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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/lettersondemonol00scot_2 


* 


\ 


ADDRESSED  TO 


J.  G.  LOCKHART  ESQ. 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT,  BART 


PUBLISHED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 
NO.  82  CLIFF-STREET. 


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CONTENTS 


LETTER  L 

Origin  of  the  general  Opinions  respecting  Demonology  among  Mankind 
— The  Belief  in  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul  is  the  main  Inducement 
to  credit  its  occasional  Reappearance — The  philosophical  Objections 
to  the  Apparition  of  an  abstract  Spirit  little  understood  by  the  Vulgar 
and  Ignorant— The  Situationsof  excited  Passion  incident  to  Humanity, 
which  teach  Men  to  wish  or  apprehend  supernatural  Apparitions — 
They  are  often  presented  by  the  sleeping  Sense — Story  of  Somnam¬ 
bulism— The  Influence  of  Credulity  contagious,  so  that  Individuals 
will  trust  the  Evidence  of  others  in  despite  of  their  own  Senses — 
Examples  from  the  Histnria  Verdadera  of  Bernal  Dias  del  Castillo, 
and  from  the  Works  of  Patrick  Walker — The  apparent  Evidence  of 
Intercourse  wiJi  the  supernatural  World  is  sometimes  owing  to  a 
depraved  State  of  the  bodily  Organs — Difference  between  this  Disorder 
and  Insanity,  in  which  the  Organs  retain  their  Tone,  though  that  of 
the  Mind  is  lost — Rebellion  of  the  Senses  of  a  Lunatic  against  the 
Current  of  his  Reveries — Narratives  of  a  contrary  Nature,  in  which 
the  Evidence  of  the  Eyes  overbore  the  Conviction  of  the  Under¬ 
standing — Example  of  a  London  Man  of  Pleasure — Of  Nicolai,  the 
German  Bookseller  and  Philosopher — Of  a  Patient  of  Dr.  Gregory— 
Of  an  eminent  Scottish  Lawyer  deceased — Of  this  same  fallacious 
Disorder  are  other  Instances,  which  have  but  sudden  and  momentary 
Endurance — Apparition  of  Maupertuis— Of  a  late  illustrious  modern 
Poet — The  Cases  quoted  c-hiefly  relating  to  false  Impressions  on  the 
visual  Nerve,  those  upon  the  Ear  next  considered — Delusions  of  the 
Touch  chiefly  experienced  in  Sleep — Delusions  of  the  Taste — and  of 
the  Smelling — Sum  of  the  Argument . 13 

LETTER  II. 

Consequences  of  the  Fall  on  the  Communication  between  Men  and  the 
Spiritual  World — Effects  of  the  Flood — Wizards  of  Pharaoh— Text 
in  Exodus  against  Witches— The  word  Witch  is  by  some  said  to  mean 
merely  Poisoner — Or  if  In  the  Holy  Text  it  also  means  a  Divineress,  she 
must,  at  any  rate,  have  been  a  Character  very  different  to  be  identified 
with  it — The  original,  Chasaph,  said  to  mean  a  Person  who  dealt  in 
Poisons,  often  a  Traffic  of  those  who  dealt  with  familiar  Spirits — But 
different  from  the  European  Witch  of  the  Middle  Ages — Thus  a 
Witch  is  not  accessary  to  the  Temptation  of  Job — The  Witch  of  the 
Hebrews  probably  did  not  rank  higher  than  a  Divining  Woman — Ye* 
it  was  a  Crime  deserving  the  Doom  of  Death,  since  it  inferred  the 
owning  of  Jehovah’s  Supremacy — Other  Texts  of  Scripture,  in  like 


CONTENTS 


viii 

manner,  refer  to  something  corresponding  more  with  a  Fortune-teller 
or  Divining  Woman,  than  what  is  now  called  a  Witch — Example  of 
the  Witch  of  Endor — Account  of  her  Meeting  with  Saul — Supposed 
by  some  a  mere  Impostor — By  others,  a  Sorceress  powerful  enough  to 
raise  the  Spirit  of  the  Prophet  by  her  own  Art — Difficulties  attending 
both  Positions — A  middle  Course  adopted,  supposing  that,  as  in  the 
Case  of  Balak,  the  Almighty  had,  by  exertion  of  his  Will,  substituted 
Samuel,  or  a  good  Spirit  in  his  Character,  for  the  Deception  which  the 
Witch  intended  to  produce — Resumption  of  the  Argument,  showing 
that  the  Witch  of  Endor  signified  something  very  different  from  the 
modern  Ideas  of  Witchcraft — The  Witches  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  are  not  less  different  from  modern  Ideas  than  those  of  the 
Books  of  Moses,  nor  do  they  appear  to  have  possessed  the  Power 
ascribed  to  Magicians — Articles  of  Faith  which  we  may  gather  from 
Scripture  on  this  Point — That  there  might  be  certain  Powers  permitted 
by  the  Almighty  to  inferior,  and  even  evil  Spirits,  is  possible ;  and  in 
some  Sense,  the  Gods  of  the  Heathens  might  be  accounted  Demons — 
More  frequently,  and  in  a  general  Sense,  they  were  but  Logs  of  Wood, 
without  Sense  or  Power  of  any  Kind,  and  their  Worship  founded  on 
Imposture — Opinion  that  the  Oracles  were  silenced  at  the  Nativity, 
adopted  by  Milton — Cases  of  Demoniacs — The  incarnate  Possessions 
probably  ceased  at  the  same  Time  as  the  Intervention  of  Miracles — 
Opinion  of  the  Catholics — Result  that  Witchcraft,  as  the  Word  is 
interpreted  in  the  middle  Ages,  neither  occurs  under  the  Mosaic  or 
Gospel  Dispensation — It  arose  in  the  ignorant  Period,  when  the 
Christians  considered  the  Gods  of  the  Mahommedan  or  Heathen  Na¬ 
tions  as  Fiends,  and  their  Priests  as  Conjurers  or  Wizards — Instance 
as  to  the  Saracens,  and  among  the  Northern  Europeans  yet  unconvert¬ 
ed — The  Gods  of  Mexico  and  Peru  explained  on  the  same  System — 
Also  the  Powahs  of  North  America — Opinion  of  Mather — Gibb,  a 
supposed  Warlock,  persecuted  by  the  other  Dissenters — Conclu¬ 
sion.  . 52 


LETTER  III. 

Creed  of  Zoroaster — Received  partially  into  most  HeathenNations — In¬ 
stances  among  the  Celtic  Tribes  of  Scotland — Beltaine  Feast — Gude- 
nian’s  Croft — Such  Abuses  admitted  into  Christianity  after  the  earlier 
Agesofthe  Church — Law  ofthe  Romans  against  Witchcraft — Romish 
Customs  survive  the  Fall  of  their  Religion — Instances — Demonology 
of  the  Northern  Barbarians — Nicksas — Bhar-geist — Correspondence 
between  the  Northern  and  Roman  Witches— The  Power  of  Fascina¬ 
tion  ascribed  to  the  Sorceresses — Example  from  the  Eyrbiggia  Saga — 
The  Prophetesses  of  the  Germans — The  Gods  of  Valhalla  not  highly 
regarded  by  their  Worshippers— Often  defied  by  their  Champions — 
Demons  of  the  North — Story  of  Assueit  and  Asmund — Action  of  Eject¬ 
ment  against  Spectres — Adventure  of  a  Champion  with  the.  Goddess 
Freya — Conversion  of  the  Pagans  of  Iceland  to  Christianity — North¬ 
ern  Superstitions  mixed  with  those  of  the  Celts — Satyrs  of  the  North — 
Highland  Ourisk — Meming  the  Satyr . 83 

LETTER  IV. 

Fhe  Fairy  Superstition  is  derived  from  different  Sources — The  classical 
Worship  of  the  Sylvans,  or  rural  Deities,  proved  by  Roman  Altars 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


discovered — The  Gothic  Duergar,  or  Dwarfs,  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  Northern  Laps,  or  Fins — The  Niebelungen-Lied — King  I, au¬ 
xin's  Adventure— Celtic  Fairies  of  a  gayer  Character,  yet  their  Plea¬ 
sures  empty  and  illusory — Addicted  to  carry  off  human  Beings,  both 
Infants  and  Adults — Adventures  of  a  Butler  in  Ireland — The  Elves 
supposed  to  pay  a  Tax  to  Hell — The  Irish,  Welsh,  Highlanders,  and 
Manxmen,  held  the  same  Belief— It  was  rather  rendered  more  gloomy 
by  the  Northern  Traditions — Merlin  and  Arthur  carried  off  by  the 
Fairies — Also  Thomas  of  Erceldoune — His  Amour  with  the  Queen  of 
Elfland — His  Reappearance  in  latter  Times — Another  Account  from 
Reginald  Scot — Conjectures  on  the  Derivation  of  the  word  Fairy.  108 

LETTER  V. 

Those  who  dealt  in  Fortune-telling,  mystical  Cures  by  Charms,  and  the 
like,  often  claimed  an  Intercourse  with  Fairy  Land — Hudhart  or 
Hudikin — Pitcairn’s  Scottish  Criminal  Trials — Story  of  Bessie  Duns 
lop  and  her  Adviser— Her  Practice  of  Medicine — and  of  Discovery  of 
Theft — Account  of  her  Familiar,  Thome  Reid — Trial  of  Alison 
Pearson — Account  of  her  Familiar,  William  Sympson — Trial  of  the 
Lady  Fowlis,  and  of  Hector  Munro,  her  step-son — Extraordinary 
Species  of  Charm  used  by  the  latter — Confession  of  John  Stewart,  a 
Juggler,  of  his  Intercourse  with  the  Fairies — Ttial  and  Confession 
of  Isobel  Gowdie — Use  of  Elf-arrow  Heads — Parish  of  Aberfoyle — 
Mr.  Kirke,  the  Minister  of  Aberfoyle’s  Work  on  Fairy  Superstitions 
— He  is  himself  taken  to  Fairyland — Dr.  Grahame’s  interesting 
Work,  and  his  Information  on  Fairy  Superstitions — Story  of  a 
Female  in  East  Lothian  carried  off  by  the  Fairies — Another  Instance 
from  Pennant . . 127 


LETTER  VI. 

immediate  Effect  of  Christianity  on  Articles  of  Popular  Superstition— 
Chaucer’s  Account  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Priests  banishing  thu 
Fairies — Bishop  Corbett  imputes  the  same  Effect  to  the  Reformation 
— His  Verses  on  that  Subject — His  Iter  Septentrionale — Robin  Good- 
fellow,  and  other  Superstitions  mentioned  by  Reginald  Scot — Cha¬ 
racter  of  the  English  Fairies — The  Tradition  had  become  obsolete  in 
that  Author’s  Time — That  of  Witches  remained  in  Vigour — But 
impugned  by  various  Authors  after  the  Reformation,  as  Wierus, 
Naudasus,  Scot,  and  others — Demonology  defended  by  Bodinus, 
Remigius,  &c. — Their  mutual  Abuse  of  each  other — Imperfection  of 
Physical  Science  at  this  Period,  and  the  Predominance  of  Mysticism 
in  that  Department.  ........  152 

LETTER  VII. 

Penal  Laws  unpopular  when  rigidly  exercised — Prosecution  of  Witches 
placed  in  the  Hand  of  special  Commissioners,  ad  inquirendum — Pro¬ 
secution  for  Witchcraft  not  frequent,  in  tiie  elder  Period  of  the 
Roman  Empire — Nor  in  the  Middle  Ages — Some  Cases  took  place, 
however — The  Maid  of  Orleans — The  Dutchess  of  Gloucester — 
Richard  the  Third’s  Charge  against  the  Relations  of  the  Queen 
Dowager— But  Prosecutions  against  Sorcerers  became  more  common 
in  the  End  of  the  Fourteenth  Century— Equally  united  with  the  Charge 


X 


CONTENTS 


of  Heresy— Monstrelet’s  Account  of  the  Persecution  against  the  Waf- 
denses,  under  Pretext  of  Witchcraft — Florimond’s  Testimony  cm*- 
cerning  the  Increase  of  Witches  in  his  own  Time — Bull  of  Pope  In¬ 
nocent  VIII.— Various  Prosecutions  in  foreign  Countries  under  this 
severe  Law— Prosecutions  in  Labonrt,  by  the  Inquisitor  De  Lancre 
and  his  Colleague — Lycanthropy — Witches  in  Spain — In  Sweden — 
And  particularly  those  apprehended  at  Mohra.  .  .  .  169 

LETTER.  VIII. 

The  Effects  of  the  Witch  Superstition  are  to  be  traced  in  the  Laws  of  a 
Kingdom — Usually  punished  in  England  as  aCrime  connected  with  Po¬ 
litics — Attempt  at  Murder  for  Witchcraft  not  in  itself  capital — Trials 
of  Persons  of  Rank  for  Witchcraft,  connected  with  State  Crimes — 
Statutes  of  Henry  VIII.— How  Witchcraft  was  regarded  by  the  three 
leading  Sects  of  Religion  in  the  Sixteenth  Century;  first,  by  the 
Catholics;  second,  by  the  Calvinists;  third,  by  the  Church  of  England 
and  Lutherans — Impostures  unwarily  countenanced  by  individual 
Catholic  Priests,  and  also  by  some  Puritanic  Clergymen — Statute  of 
1562,  and  some  Cases  upon  it — Case  of  Dugdale — Case  of  the  Witches 
of  Warbois,  and  Execution  of  the  Family  of  Samuel — That  of  Jane 
Wenham,  in  which  some  Church  of  England  Clergymen  insisted  on  the 
Prosecution — Hutchison's  Rebuke  to  them — James  the  First’s  Opinion 
of  Witchcraft — His  celebrated  Statute,  1  Jac.  I. — Canon  passed  by  the 
Convocation  against  Possession — Case  of  Mr.  Fairfax’s  Children — Lan¬ 
cashire  Witches  in  1613 — Another  Discovery  in  1634 — Webster’s 
Account  of  the  Manner  in  which  the  Imposture  was  managed — Supe¬ 
riority  of  the  Calvinists  is  followed  by  a  severe  Prosecution  of 
Witches — Executions  in  Suffolk,  &c.  to  a  dreadful  Extent — Hopkins, 
the  pretended  Witchfinder,  the  Cause  of  these  Cruelties — His  brutal 
Practices — His  Letter — Execution  of  Mr.  Lovvis — Hopkins  punished — 
Restoration  of  Charles — Trial  of  Coxe — of  Dunny  and  Callender  be¬ 
fore  Lord  Hales — Royal  Society  and  Progress  of  Knowledge — Somer¬ 
setshire  Witches — Opinions  of  the  Populace — A  Woman  swum  for 
Witchcraft  at  Oakly — Murder  at  Tring — Act  against  Witchcraft 
abolished,  and  the  Belief  in  the  Crime  becomes  forgotten — Witch 
Trials  in  New-England — Dame  Glover’s  Trial — Affliction  of  the 
Parvises,  and  frightful  Increase  of  the  Prosecutions — Suddenly  put  a 
Stop  to — The  Penitence  of  those  concerned  in  them.  .  .  102 


LETTER  IX. 

Scottish  Trials — Earl  of  Mar — Lady  Glammis — William  Barton — 
Witches  of  Auldearne — Their  Rites  and  Charms — Their  Transforma¬ 
tion  into  Hares — Satan’s  Severity  towards  them — Their  Crimes— Sir 
George  Mackenzie’s  Opinion  of  Witchcraft — Instances  of  Confessions 
made  by  the  Accused,  in  Despair,  and  to  avoid  future  Annoyance  ana 
Persecution — Examination  by  Pricking — The  Mode  of  judicial  Proce¬ 
dure  against  Witches,  and  Nature  of  the  Evidence  admissible,  opened 
a  Door  to  Accusers,  and  left  the  Accused  no  Chance  of  Escape — The 
Superstition  of  the  Scottish  Clergy  in  King  James  VI.’s  Time  led 
them,  like  their  Sovereign,  to  encourage  Witch-Prosecutions — Case 
of  Bessie  Graham — Supposed  Conspiracy  to  shipwreck  James  in  his 
Voyage  to  Denmark— Meetings  of  the  YVitches,  and  Rites  performed 
£o  accomplish  their  Purpose— Trial  of  Margaret  Barclay  in  1618— Case 


CONTENTS, 


X 


of  Major  Weir — Sir  John  Clerk  among  the  first  who  declined  acting 
as  Commissioner  on  the  Trial  of  a  Witch — Paisley  and  Pittenweem 
Witches — A  Prosecution  in  Caithness  prevented  by  the  Interference 
of  the  King’s  Advocate  in  1718 — -The  last  Sentence  of  Death  for 
Witchcralt  pronounced  in  Scotland  in  1722 — Remains  of  the  Witch 
Superstition— Case  of  supposed  Witchcraft,  related  from  the  Author’s 
own  Knowledge,  which  took  Place  so  late  as  1800.  .  241 

LETTER  X. 

Other  mystic  A  i  ts  independent  of  Witchcraft — Astrology — Its  Influence 
during  the  16th  and  17th  Centuries — Base  Ignorance  of  those  who 
practised  it — Lilly’s  History  of  his  Life  and  Times — Astrologer’s  So¬ 
ciety — Dr.  Lamb-— Dr.  Forman — Establishment  of  the  Royal  Society 
— Partridge — Connexion  of  Astrologers  with  elementary  Spirits — Dr. 
Dun — Irish  Superstition  of  the  Banshie — Similar  Superstition  in  th6 
Highlands — Brownie — Ghosts — Belief  of  ancient  Philosophers  on  that 
Subject — Inquiry  into  the  Respect  due  to  such  Tales  in  modern  Times 
— Evidence  of  a  Ghost  against  a  Murderer — Ghost  of  Sir  George  Vil- 
liers — Story  of  Earl  St.  Vincent — of  a  British  General  Officer — of  an 
Apparition  in  France — of  the  second  Lord  Lyttelton — of  Bill  Jones — 
of  Jarvis  Matcham — Trial  of  two  Highlanders  forthe  Murder  of  Ser¬ 
geant  Davis,  discovered  by  a  Ghost — Disturbances  at  Woodstock, 
Anno  1649 — Imposture  called  the  Stockwell  Ghost — Similar  Case  in 
Scotland — Ghost  appearing  to  an  Exciseman — Story  of  a  disturbed 
House  discovered  by  the  Firmness  of  the  Proprietor — Apparition  at 
Plymouth — A  Club  of  Philosophers — Ghost  Adventure  of  a  Farmer 
—Trick  upon  a  veteran  Soldier — Ghost  Stories  recommended  by  the 
Skill  of  the  Authors  who  compose  them — Mrs.  Veal’s  Ghost — Dun- 
ton’s  Apparition  Evidence — Effect  of  appropriate  Scenery  to  encou¬ 
rage  a  Tendency  to  Superstition — Differs  at  distant  Periods  of  Life — 
Night  atGlammis  Castle  about  179I--Visit  to  Dunvegan  in  1814.  290 


*, 

. 


« 

* 


LETTERS 

ON 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


\ 


•  • 


LETTERS 


ON 

DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 

To  J.  G.  LOCKHART,  Esq. 


LETTER  I. 

Origin  of  the  general  Opinions  respecting  Demonology  among  Mankind 
— The  Belief  in  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul  is  the  main  Inducement 
to  credit  its  occasional  Reappearance — The  philosophical  Objections 
to  the  Apparition  of  an  abstract  Spiritiittle  understood  by  the  Vulgar 
and  Ignorant— The  Situationsof  excited  Passion  incident  to  Humanity, 
which  teach  Men  to  wish  or  apprehend  supernatural  Apparitions — 
They  are  often  presented  by  the  sleeping  Sense — Story  of  Somnam¬ 
bulism— The  Influence  of  Credulity  contagious,  so  that  Individuals 
will  trust  the  Evidence  of  others  in  despite  of  their  own  Senses — • 
Examples  from  the  Historia  Verdadera  of  Bernal  Dias  del  Castillo, 
and  from  the  Works  of  Patrick  Walker — The  apparent  Evidence  of 
Intercouise  with  the  supernatural  World  is  sometimes  owing  to  a 
depraved  State  of  the  bodily  Organs — Difference  between  this  Disorder 
and  Insanity,  in  which  the  Organs  retain  their  Tone,  though  that  of 
the  Mind  is  lost— Rebellion  of  the  Senses  of  a  Lunatic  against  the 
Current  of  his  Reveries — Narratives  of  a  contrary  Nature,  in  which 
the  Evidence  of  the  Eyes  overbore  the  Conviction  of  the  Under¬ 
standing-Example  of  a  London  Man  of  Pleasure— Of  Nicolai,  the 
German  Bookseller  and  Philosopher — Of  a  Patient  of  Dr.  Gregory— 
Of  an  eminent  Scottish  Lawyer  deceased — Of  this  same  fallacious 
Disorder  are  other  Instances,  which  have  but  sudden  and  momentary 
Endurance — Apparition  of  Maupertuis— Of  a  late  illustrious  modern 
Poet — The  Cases  quoted  chiefly  relating  to  false  Impressions  on  the 
visual  Nerve,  those  upon  the  Ear  next  considered — Delusions  of  the 
Touch  chiefly  experienced  in  Sleep — Delusions  of  the  Taste — and  of 
I  the  Smelling — Sum  of  the  Argument. 

I 

You  have  asked  of  me,  my  dear  friend,  that  I  should 
assist  the  Family  Library,  with  the  history  of  a  dark 
chapter  in  human  nature,  which  the  increasing  civil¬ 
ization  of  all  well-instructed  countries  has  now 
almost  blotted  out,  though  the  subject  attracted  no 

B 


14 


LETTERS  ON 


ordinary  degree  of  consideration  in  the  older  times 
of  their  history. 

Among  much  reading  of  my  early  days,  it  is  no 
doubt  true  that  I  travelled  a  good  deal  in  the  twilight 
regions  of  superstitious  disquisitions.  Many  hours 
have  I  lost, — “  I  would  their  debt  were  less !” — in 
examining  old,  as  well  as  more  recent  narratives  of 
this  character,  and  even  in  looking  into  some  of  the 
criminal  trials  so  frequent  in  early  days,  upon  a  sub¬ 
ject  which  our  fathers  considered  as  matter  of  the 
last  importance.  And,  of  late  years,  the  very  curious 
extracts  published  by  Mr.  Pitcairn,  from  the  criminal 
Records  of  Scotland,  are,  besides  their  historical 
value,  of  a  nature  so  much  calculated  to  illustrate 
the  credulity  of  our  ancestors  on  such  subjects,  that, 
by  perusing  them,  I  have  been  induced  more  recently 
to  recall  what  I  had  read  and  thought  upon  the  sub¬ 
ject  at  a  former  period. 

As,  however,  my  information  is  only  miscellaneous, 
and  I  make  no  pretensions,  either  to  combat  the  sys¬ 
tems  of  those  by  whom  I  am  anticipated  in  consider¬ 
ation  of  the  subject,  or  to  erect  any  new  one  of  my 
own,  my  purpose  is,  after  a  general  account  of  De¬ 
monology  and  Witchcraft,  to  confine  myself  to  nar¬ 
ratives  of  remarkable  cases,  and  to  the  observations 
which  naturally  and  easily  arise  out  of  them in  the 
confidence  that  such  a  plan  is,  at  the  present  time  of 
day,  more  likely  to  suit  the  pages  of  a  popular  mis¬ 
cellany,  than  an  attempt  to  reduce  the  contents  of 
many  hundred  tomes,  from  the  largest  to  the  smallest 
size,  into  an  abridgment,  which,  however  com¬ 
pressed,  must  remain  greatly  too  large  for  the  reader’s 
powers  of  patience. 

A  few  general  remarks  on  the  nature  of  Demono¬ 
logy,  and  the  original  cause  of  the  almost  universal 
belief  in  communication  between  mortals  and  beings 
of  a  power  superior  to  themselves,  and  of  a  nature 
not  to  be  comprehended  by  human  organs,  are  a 
necessary  introduction  to  the  subject. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  ]  5 

The  general,  or,  it  may  be  termed,  the  universal 
belief  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  in  the  existence 
of  spirits  separated  from  the  encumbrance  and  inca¬ 
pacities  of  the  body,  is  grounded  on  the  consciousness 
of  the  divinity  that  speaks  in  our  bosoms,  and  demon¬ 
strates  to  all  men,  except  the  few  who  are  hardened 
to  the  celestial  voice,  that  there  is  within  us  a  por¬ 
tion  of  the  divine  substance,  which  is  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  death  and  dissolution,  but  which,  when 
the  body  is  no  longer  fit  for  its  abode,  shall  seek  its 
own  place,  as  a  sentinel  dismissed  from  his  post. 
Unaided  by  revelation,  it  cannot  be  hoped  that 
mere  earthly  reason  should  be  able  to  form  any 
rational  or  precise  conjecture  concerning  the  desti¬ 
nation  of  the  soul  when  parted  from  the  body; 
but  the  conviction  that  such  an  indestructible  es¬ 
sence  exists,  the  belief  expressed  by  the  poet  in  a 
different  sense,  Non  ornnis  moriar,  must  infer  the  ex¬ 
istence  of  many  millions  of  spirits,  who  have  not 
been  annihilated,  though  they  have  become  invisible 
to  mortals  who  still  see,  hear,  and  perceive  only  by 
means  of  the  imperfect  organs  of  humanity.  Pro¬ 
bability  may  lead  some  of  the  most  reflecting  to  an¬ 
ticipate  a  state  of  future  rewards  and  punishments  ; 
as  those  experienced  in  the  education  of  the  deaf  and 
dumb  find  that  their  pupils,  even  while  cut  off  from 
all  instruction  by  ordinary  means,  have  been  able  to 
form,  out  of  their  own  unassisted  conjectures,  some 
ideas  of  the  existence  of  a  Deity,  and  of  the  distinc¬ 
tion  between  the  soul  and  body — a  circumstance 
which  proves  how  naturally  these  truths  arise  in  the 
human  mind.  The  principle  that  they  do  so  arise, 
being  taught  or  communicated,  leads  to  farther  con¬ 
clusions. 

These  spirits,  in  a  state  of  separate  existence, 
being  admitted  to  exist,  are  not,  it  may  be  supposed, 
indifferent  to  the  affairs  of  mortality,  perhaps  not  in¬ 
capable  of  influencing  them.  It  is  true,  that,  in  a 
more  advanced  state  of  society,  the  philosopher  may 


16 


LETTERS  ON 


challenge  the  possibility  of  a  separate  appearance  of  a 
disimbodied  spirit,  unless  in  the  case  of  a  direct 
miracle,  to  which,  being  a  suspension  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  directly  wrought  by  the  Maker  of  these  laws, 
for  some  express  purpose,  no  bound  or  restraint  can 
possibly  be  assigned.  But,  under  this  necessary  limit¬ 
ation  and  exception,  philosophers  might  plausibly 
argue,  that,  when  the  soul  is  divorced  from  the  body, 
it  loses  all  those  qualities  which  made  it,  when 
clothed  with  a  mortal  shape,  obvious  to  the  organs 
of  its  fellow-men.  The  abstract  idea  of  a  spirit  cer¬ 
tainly  implies,  that  it  has  neither  substance,  form, 
shape,  voice,  or  any  thing  which  can  render  its  pre¬ 
sence  visible  or  sensible  to  human  faculties.  But 
these  skeptic  doubts  of  philosophers  on  the  possibility 
of  the  appearance  of  such  separated  spirits,  do  not 
arise  till  a  certain  degree  of  information  has  dawned 
upon  a  country,  and  even  then  only  reach  a  very 
small  proportion  of  reflecting  and  better  informed 
members  of  society.  To  the  multitude,  the  indubi¬ 
table  fact,  that  so  many  millions  of  spirits  exist 
around  and  even  among  us,  seems  sufficient  to  sup¬ 
port  the  belief  that  they  are,  in  certain  instances  at 
least,  by  some  means  or  other,  able  to  communicate 
with  the  world  of  humanity.  The  more  numerous 
part  of  mankind  cannot  form  in  their  mind  the  idea 
of  the  spirit  of  the  deceased  existing,  without  pos¬ 
sessing  or  haying  the  power  to  assume  the  appear¬ 
ance  which  their  acquaintance  bore  during  his  life, 
and  do  not  push  their  researches  beyond  this  point. 

Enthusiastic  feelings  of  an  impressive  and  solemn 
nature  occur  both  in  private  and  public  life,  which 
seem  to  add  ocular  testimony  to  an  intercourse  be¬ 
tween  earth  and  the  world  beyond  it.  For  example, 
the  son  who  has  been  lately  deprived  of  his  father 
feels  a  sudden  crisis  approach,  in  which  he  is  anxious 
to  have  recourse  to  his  sagacious  advice — or  a  be¬ 
reaved  husband  earnestly  desires  again  to  behold  the 
form  of  which  the  grave  has  deprived  him  for  ever 


..^LOGY  AND  Wi. 


— or,  to  use  a  darker  yet  very  common  instance,  the 
wretched  man  who  has  dipped  his  hand  in  his  fellow- 
creature’s  blood  is  haunted  by  the  apprehension  that 
the  phantom  of  the  slain  stands  by  the  bedside  of 
his  murderer.  In  all  or  any  of  these  cases,  who 
shall  doubt  that  imagination,  favoured  by  circum¬ 
stances,  has  power  to  summon  up  to  the  organ  of  sight 
spectres  which  only  exist  in  the  mind  of  those  by 
whom  their  apparition  seems  to  be  witnessed  1 
If  we  add,  that  such  a  vision  may  take  place  in 
the  course  of  one  of  those  lively  dreams,  in  which 
the  patient,  except  in  respect  to  the  single  subject 
of  one  strong  impression,  is,  or  seems,  sensible  of 
the  real  particulars  of  the  scene  around  him,  a  state 
of  slumber  which  often  occurs — if  he  is  so  far  con¬ 
scious,  for  example,  as  to  know  that  he  is  lying  on  his 
own  bed,  and  surrounded  by  his  own  familiar  furniture, 
at  the  time  when  the  supposed  apparition  is  mani¬ 
fested — it  becomes  almost  in  vain  to  argue  with  the 
visionary  against  the  reality  of  his  dream,  since  the 
spectre,  though  itself  purely  fanciful,  is  inserted 
amid  so  many  circumstances  which  he  feels  must  be 
true  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt  or  question.  That 
which  is  undeniably  certain  becomes  in  a  manner  a 
warrant  for  the  reality  of  the  appearance  to  which 
doubt  would  have  been  otherwise  attached.  And  if 
any  event,  such  as  the  death  of  the  person  dreamed  of, 
chances  to  take  place,  so  as  to  correspond  with  the 
nature  and  the  time  of  the  apparition,  the  coincidence, 
though  one  which  must  be  frequent,  since  our  dreams 
usually  refer  to  the  accomplishment  of  that  which 
haunts  our  minds  when  awake,  and  often  presage 
the  most  probable  events,  seems  perfect,  and  the 
chain  of  circumstances  touching  the  evidence  may 
not  unreasonably  be  considered  as  complete.  Sucfba 
concatenation,  we  repeat,  must  frequently  take  place, 
when  it  is  considered  of  what  stuff  dreams  are  made 
— how  naturally  they  turn  upon  those  who  occupy  our 
mind  while  awake,  and,  when  a  soldier  is  exposed  to 

B  2 


LITERS  Oja 


death  iri  cattle,  when  a  sailor  is  incurring  the  dan¬ 
gers  of  the  sea,  when  a  beloved  wife  or  relative  is 
attacked  by  disease,  how  readily  our  sleeping  ima¬ 
gination  rushes  to  the  very  point  of  alarm,  which 
when  waking  it  had  shuddered  to  anticipate.  The 
number  of  instances  in  which  such  lively  dreams 
have  been  quoted,  and  both  asserted  and  received  as 
spiritual  communications,  is  very  great  at  all  periods; 
in  ignorant  times,  where  the  natural  cause  of  dream¬ 
ing  is  misapprehended,  and  confused  with  an  idea  of 
mysticism,  it  is  much  greater.  Yet  perhaps,  consi¬ 
dering  the  many  thousands  of  dreams  which  must, 
night  after  night,  pass  through  the  imagination  of 
individuals,  the  number  of  coincidences  between  the 
vision  and  real  event,  is  fewer  and  less  remarkable 
than  a  fair  calculation  of  chances  wrould  warrant  us 
to  expect.  But  in  countries  where  such  presaging 
dreams  are  subjects  of  attention,  the  number  of  those 
which  seem  to  be  coupled  with  the  corresponding 
issue  is  large  enough  to  spread  a  very  general  belief 
of  a  positive  communication  between  the  living  and 
the  dead. 

Somnambulism  and  other  nocturnal  deceptions 
frequently  lend  their  aid  to  the  formation  of  such 
phantasmata  as  are  formed  in  this  middle  state  be 
tween  sleeping  and  waking.  A  most  respectable 
person,  whose  active  life  had  been  spent  as  master 
and  part  owner  of  a  large  merchant  vessel  in  the 
Lisbon  trade,  gave  the  writer  an  account  of  such  an 
instance  which  came  under  his  observation.  He  wras 
lying  in  the  Tagus,  when  he  was  put  to  great  anxiety 
and  alarm,  by  the  following  incident  and  its  conse¬ 
quences.  One  of  his  crew  was  murdered  by  a  Por¬ 
tuguese  assassin,  and  a  report  arose  that  the  ghost 
ot'  the  slain  man  haunted  the  vessel.  Sailors  are 
generally  superstitious,  and  those  of  my  friend’s  ves¬ 
sel  became  unwilling  to  remain  on  board  the  ship ; 
and  it  was  probable  they  might  desert  rather  than 
return  to  England  with  the  ghost  for  a  passenger. 


DEMONOLOG  *  aIvL' 

To  prevent  so  great  a  calamity,  the  Captain  deter¬ 
mined  to  examine  the  story  to  the  bottom.  He  soon 
found,  that  though  all  pretended  to  have  seen  lights, 
and  heard  noises,  and  so  forth,  the  weight  of  the  evi¬ 
dence  lay  upon  the  statement  of  one  of  his  own 
mates,  an  Irishman  and  a  Catholic,  which  might  in¬ 
crease  his  tendency  to  superstition,  but  in  other  re¬ 
spects  a  veracious,  honest,  and  sensible  person,  whom 

Captain - had  no  reason  to  suspect  would  wilfully 

deceive  him.  He  affirmed  to  Captain  S - ,  with 

the  deepest  obtestations,  that  the  spectre  of  the  mur¬ 
dered  man  appeared  to  him  almost  nightly,  took  him 
from  his  place  in  the  vessel,  and,  according  to  his 
own  expression,  worried  his  life  out.  He  made  these 
communications  with  a  degree  of  horror,  which  inti¬ 
mated  the  reality  of  his  distress  and  apprehensions. 
The  Captain,  without  any  argument  at  the  time,  pri¬ 
vately  resolved  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  ghost- 
seer  in  the  night ;  whether  alone,  or  with  a  witness, 
I  have  forgotten.  As  the  ship  bell  Struck  twelve,  the 
sleeper  started  'up,  with  a  ghastly  and  disturbed 
countenance,  and  lighting  a  candle,  proceeded  to  the 
galley  or  cook-room  of  the  vessel.  He  sat  down 
with  his  eyes  open,  staring  before  him  as  on  some 
terrible  object  which  he  beheld  with  horror,  yet  from 
which  he  could  not  withhold  his  eyes.  After  a  short 
space  he  arose,  took  up  a  tin  can  or  decanter,  filled 
it  with  water,  muttering  to  himself  all  the  while — 
mixed  salt  in  the  water,  and  sprinkled  it  about  the 
galley.  Finally,  he  sighed  deeply,  like  one  relieved 
from  a  heavy  burden,  and,  returning  to  his  hammock, 
slept  soundly.  In  the  next  morning,  the  haunted 
man  told  the  usual  precise  story  of  his  apparition, 
with  the  additional  circumstances,  that  the  ghost  had 
led  him  to  the  galley,  but  that  he  had  fortunately, 
he  knew  not  how,  obtained  possession  of  some  holy 
water,  and  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  his  unwelcome 
visiter.  The  visionary  was  then  informed  of  the 
real  transactions  of  the  night,  with  so  many  particu- 


.1.x  lERS  ON 


liars  as  to  satisfy  him  he  had  been  the  dupe  of  his 
imagination ;  he  acquiesced  in  his  commander’s  rea¬ 
soning,  and  the  dream,  as  often  happens  in  these 
cases,  returned  no  more  after  its  imposture  had  been 
detected.  In  this  case,  we  find  the  excited  imagina¬ 
tion  acting  upon  the  half-waking  senses,  which  Avere 
intelligent  enough  for  the  purpose  of  making  him 
sensible  where  he  was,  but  not  sufficiently  so  as  to 
judge  truly  of  the  objects  before  him. 

But  it  is  not  private  life  alone,  or  that  tenor  of 
thought  which  has  been  depressed  into  melancholy 
by  gloomy  anticipations  respecting  the  future,  which 
disposes  the  mind  to  midday  fantasies,  or  to  nightly 
apparitions — a  state  of  eager  anxiety,  or  excited 
exertion,  is  equally  favourable  to  the  indulgence  of 
such  supernatural  communications.  The  anticipation 
of  a  dubious  battle,  with  all  the  doubt  and  uncer¬ 
tainty  of  its  event,  and  the  conviction  that  it  must 
involve  his  own  fate,  and  that  of  his  country,  was 
powerful  enough  to  conjure  up  to  the  anxious  eye 
of  Brutus  the  spectre  of  his  murdered  friend  Cesar, 
respecting  whose  death  he  perhaps  thought  himself 
less  justified  than  at  the  Ides  of  March,  since  instead 
of  having  achieved  the  freedom  of  Rome,  the  event 
had  only  been  the  reneAval  of  civil  wars,  and  the 
issue  might  appear  most  likely  to  conclude  in  the 
total  subjection  of  liberty.  It  is  not  miraculous,  that 
the  masculine  spirit  of  Marcus  Brutus,  surrounded 
by  darkness  and  solitude,  distracted  probably  by 
recollection  of  the  kindness  and  favour  of  the 
great  individual  whom  he  had  put  to  death  to  avenge 
the  wrongs  of  his  country,  though  by  the  slaughter 
of  his  own  friend,  should  at  length  place  before  his 
eyes  in  person  the  appearance  which  termed  itself 
his  evil  Genius,  and  promised  again  to  meet  him  at 
Philippi.  Brutus’s  own  intentions,  and  his  knoAvledge 
of  the  military  art,  had  probably  long  since  assured 
him  that  the  decision  of  the  civil  war  must  take  place 
at  or  near  that  place ;  and,  alloAving  that  his  own 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


21 


imagination  supplied  that  part  of  his  dialogue  with 
the  spectre,  there  is  nothing  else  which  might  not  be 
fashioned  in  a  vivid  dream  or  a  waking  revery, 
approaching,  in  absorbing  and  engrossing  character, 
the  usual  matter  of  which  dreams  consist.  That 
Brutus,  well  acquainted  with  the  opinions  of  the 
Platonists,  should  be  disposed  to  receive  without 
doubt  the  idea  that  he  had  seen  a  real  apparition,  and 
was  not  likely  to  scrutinize  very  minutely  the  sup¬ 
posed  vision,  may  be  naturally  conceived;  and  it  is 
also  natural  to  think,  that  although  no  one  saw  the 
figure  but  himself,  his  contemporaries  were  little 
disposed  to  examine  the  testimony  of  a  man  so 
eminent,  by  the  strict  rules  of  cross-examination  and 
conflicting  evidence,  which  they  might  have  thought 
applicable  to  another  person,  and  a  less  dignified 
occasion. 

Even  in  the  field  of  death,  and  amid  the  mortal 
tug  of  combat  itself,  strong  belief  has  wrought  the 
same  wonder,  which  we  have  hitherto  mentioned  as 
occurring  in  solitude  and  amid  darkness ;  and  those 
who  were  themselves  on  the  verge  of  the  world  of 
spirits,  or  employed  in  despatching  others  to  these 
gloomy  regions,  conceived  they  beheld  the  appari¬ 
tions  of  those  beings  whom  their  national  mythology 
associated  with  such  scenes.  In  such  moments  of 
undecided  battle,  amid  the  violence,  hurry,  and  con¬ 
fusion  of  ideas  incident  to  the  situation,  the  ancients 
supposed  that  they  saw  their  deities  Castor  and 
Pollux  fighting  in  the  van  for  their  encouragement ; 
the  heathen  Scandinavian  beheld  the  Choosers  of  the 
slain ;  and  the  Catholics  were  no  less  easily  led  to 
recognise  the  warlike  Saint  George  or  Saint  James 
in  the  very  front  of  the  strife,  showing  them  the 
way  to  conquest.  Such  apparitions  being  generally 
visible  to  a  multitude,  have  in  all  times  been  supported 
by  the  greatest  strength  of  testimony.  When  the 
common  feeling  of  danger,  and  the  animating  burst 
of  enthusiasm,  act  on  the  feelings  of  many  men  at 


22 


LETTERS  ON 


once,  their  minds  hold  a  natural  correspondence  with 
each  other,  as  it  is  said  is  the  case  with  stringed 
instruments  tuned  to  the  same  pitch,  of  w'hich,  when 
one  is  played,  the  chords  of  the  others  are  supposed 
to  vibrate  in  unison  with  the  tones  produced.  If  an 
artful  or  enthusiastic  individual  exclaims,  in  the  heat 
of  action,  that  he  perceives  an  apparition  of  the 
romantic  kind  which  has  been  intimated,  his  com¬ 
panions  catch  at  the  idea  with  emulation,  and  most 
are  willing  to  sacrifice  the  conviction  of  their  own 
senses,  rather  than  allow  that  they  did  not  witness 
the  same  favourable  emblem,  from  which  all  draw 
confidence  and  hope.  One  warrior  catches  the  idea 
from  another ;  all  are  alike  eager  to  acknowledge  the 
present  miracle,  and  the  battle  is  won  before  the  mis¬ 
take  is  discovered.  In  such  cases,  the  number  of 
persons  present,  which  would  otherwise  lead  to 
detection  of  the  fallacy,  becomes  the  means  of 
strengthening  it. 

Of  this  disposition  to  see  as  much  of  the  super¬ 
natural  as  is  seen  by  others  around,  or,  in  other 
words,  to  trust  to  the  eyes  of  others  rather  than  to 
our  own,  we  may  take  the  liberty  to  quote  two  re¬ 
markable  instances. 

The  first  is  from  the  Historia  Verdadera  of  Don 
Bernal  Dias  del  Castillo,  one  of  the  companions  of 
the  celebrated  Cortez,  in  his  Mexican  conquest. 
After  having  given  an  account  of  a  great  victory 
over  extreme  odds,  he  mentions  the  report  inserted 
in  the  contemporary  Chronicle  of  Gomara,that  Saint 
Iago  had  appeared  on  a  white  horse  in  van  of  the 
combat,  and  led  on  his  beloved  Spaniards  to  victory. 
It  is  very  curious  to  observe  the  Castilian  cavalier’s 
internal  conviction,  that  the  rumour  arose  out  of  a 
mistake,  the  cause  of  which  he  explains  from  his 
own  observation;  while  at  the  same  time  he  does 
not  venture  to  disown  the  miracle.  The  honest 
Conquestador  owns,  that  he  himself  did  not  see  this 
animating  vision ;  nay,  that  he  beheld  an  individua 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  23 

cavalier,  named  Francisco  de  Morla,  mounted  on  a 
chestnut  horse,  and  fighting  strenuously,  in  the  very 
place  where  Saint  James  is  said  to  have  appeared. 
But  instead  of  proceeding  to  draw  the  necessary  in¬ 
ference,  the  devout  Conquestador  exclaims, — “  Sinner 
that  I  am,  what  am  I  that  I  should  have  beheld  the 
blessed  apostle !” 

The  other  instance  of  the  infectious  character  of 
superstition  occurs  in  a  Scottish  book,  and  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  it  refers,  in  its  first  origin,  to 
some  uncommon  appearance  of  the  aurora  borealis, 
or  the  northern  lights,  which  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  seen  in  Scotland  so  frequently  as  to  be  ac¬ 
counted  a  common  and  familiar  atmospherical  phe¬ 
nomenon,  until  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  passage  is  striking  and  curious,  for 
the  narrator,  Peter  Walker,  though  an  enthusiast, 
was  a  man  of  credit,  and  does  not  even  affect  to 
have  seen  the  wonders,  the  reality  of  which  he  un¬ 
scrupulously  adopts  on  the  testimony  of  others,  to 
whose  eyes  he  trusted  rather  than  to  his  own.  The 
conversion  of  the  skeptical  gentleman  of  whom  he 
speaks,  is  highly  illustrative  of  popular  credulity, 
carried  away  into  enthusiasm,  or  into  imposture,  by 
the  evidence  of  those  around,  and  at  once  shows 
the  imperfection  of  such  a  general  testimony,  and 
the  ease  with  which  it  is  procured,  since  the  general 
excitement  of  the  moment  impels  even  the  more 
cold-blooded  and  judicious  persons  present  to  catch 
up  the  ideas,  and  echo  the  exclamations,  of  the 
majority,  who,  from  the  first,  had  considered  the 
heavenly  phenomenon  as  a  supernatural  wcapon- 
schaw,  held  for  the  purpose  of  a  sign  and  warning 
of  civil  wars  to  come. 

“In  the  year  1686,  in  the  months  of  June  and 
July,”  says  the  honest  chronicler,  “  many  yet  alive 
can  witness  that  about  the  Crossford  Boat,  two 
miles  beneath  Lanark,  especially  at  the  Mains,  on 
the  water  of  Clyde,  many  people  gathered  together 


24 


LETTERS  ON 


for  several  afternoons,  where  there  were  showers 
of  bonnets,  hats,  guns,  and  swords,  which  covered 
the  trees  and  the  ground ;  companies  of  men  in 
arms  marching  in  order  upon  the  water-side  ;  com¬ 
panies  meeting  companies,  going  all  through  other, 
and  then  all  falling  to  the  ground  and  disappearing ; 
other  companies  immediately  appeared,  marching  the 
same  way.  I  went  there  three  afternoons  together, 
and  as  I  observed  there  were  two-thirds  of  the 
people  that  were  together  saw,  and  a  third  that  saw 
not,  and  though  I  could  see  nothing,  there  was  such 
a  fright  and  trembling  on  those  that  did  see,  that  was 
discernible  to  all  from  those  that  saw  not.  There 
was  a  gentleman  standing  next  to  me,  who  spoke 
as  too  many  gentlemen  and  others  speak,  who  said, 
‘  A  pack  of  damned  witches  and  warlocks  that  have 
the  second  sight !  the  devil  lia’t  do  I  see and  imme¬ 
diately  there  was  a  discernible  change  in  his  coun¬ 
tenance.  With  as  much  fear  and  trembling  as  any 
woman  I  saw  there,  he  called  out,  ‘  All  you  that  do 
not  see,  say  nothing ;  for  1  persuade  you  it  is  matter 
of  fact,  and  discernible  to  all  that  are  not  stone-blind.’ 
And  those  who  did  see  told  what  works  (i.  e.  locks) 
the  guns  had,  and  their  length  and  wideness,  and 
what  handles  the  swords  had,  whether  small  or 
three-barred,  or  Highland  guards,  and  the  closing 
knots  of  the  bonnets,  black  or  blue ;  and  those  who 
did  see  them  there,  whenever  they  went  abroad, 
saw  a  bonnet  and  a  sword  drop  in  the  way.”* 

This  singular  phenomenon,  in  which  a  multitude 
believed,  although  only  two-thirds  of  them  saw  what 
must,  if  real,  have  been  equally  obvious  to  all,  may 
be  compared  with  the  exploit  of  a  humorist,  who 
planted  himself  in  an  attitude  of  astonishment  with 
his  eyes  riveted  on  the  well-known  bronze  lion  that 

a, 

*  Walker’s  Lives,  Edinburgh,  3827,  vol.  i.  p.  xxxvi.  It  is  evident  that 
honest  Peter  believed  in  the  apparition  of  this  martial  gear,  on  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  Partridge’s  terror  for  the  ghost  of  Hamlet — not  that  he  was 
afraid  himself,  but  because  Garrick  showed  such  evident  marks  of  terror 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  25 

graces  the  front  of  Northumberland-house  in  the 
Strand,  and  having  attracted  the  attention  of  those 
who  looked  at  him  by  muttering,  “  By  Heaven,  it 
wags  ! — it  wags  again !”  contrived  in  a  few  minutes 
to  blockade  the  whole  street  with  an  immense  crowd, 
some  conceiving  that  they  had  absolutely  seen  the 
lion  of  Percy  wag  his  tail,  others  expecting  to  wit¬ 
ness  the  same  phenomenon. 

On  such  occasions  as  we  have  hitherto  mentioned, 
we  have  supposed  that  the  ghost-seer  has  been  in 
full  possession  of  his  ordinary  powers  of  perception, 
unless  in  the  case  of  dreamers,  in  whom  they  may 
have  been  obscured  by  temporary  slumber,  and  the 
possibility  of  correcting  vagaries  of  the  imagination 
rendered  more  difficult  by  want  of  the  ordinary 
appeal  to  the  evidence  of  the  bodily  senses.  In 
other  respects,  their  blood  beat  temperately,  they 
possessed  the  ordinary  capacity  of  ascertaining  the 
truth,  or  discerning  the  falsehood,  of  external  ap¬ 
pearances,  by  an  appeal  to  the  organ  of  sight.  Un¬ 
fortunately,  however,  as  is  now  universally  known 
and  admitted,  there  certainly  exists  more  than  one 
disorder  known  to  professional  men,  of  which  one 
important  symptom  is  a  disposition  to  see  appa¬ 
ritions. 

This  frightful  disorder  is  not  properly  insanity, 
although  it  is  somewhat  allied  to  that  most  horri¬ 
ble  of  maladies,  and  may,  in  many  constitutions, 
be  the  means  of  bringing  it  on,  and  although  such 
hallucinations  are  proper  to  both.  The  difference 
I  conceive  to  be,  that,  in  cases  of  insanity,  the 
mind  of  the  patient  is  principally  affected,  while 
the  senses,  or  organic  system,  offer  in  vain  to  the 
lunatic  their  decided  testimony  against  the  fantasy 
of  a  deranged  imagination.  Perhaps  the  nature 
of  this  collision — between  a  disturbed  imagination 
and  organs  of  sense  possessed  of  their  usual  accu 
racy — cannot  be  better  described  than  in  the  em¬ 
barrassment  expressed  by  an  insane  patient  con- 

C 


26 


LEXTERS  ON 


fined  in  the  Infirmary  of  Edinburgh.  The  poor 
man’s  malady  had  taken  a  gay  turn.  The  house, 
in  liis  idea,  was  his  own,  and  he  contrived  to  ac¬ 
count  for  all  that  seemed  inconsistent  with  his 
imaginary  right  of  property; — there  were  many 
patients  in  it,  but  that  was  owing  to  the  benevolence 
of  his  nature,  which  made  him  love  to  see  the  relief 
of  distress.  He  went  little,  or  rather  never  abroad— 
but  then  his  habits  were  of  a  domestic  and  rather 
sedentary  character.  Fie  did  not  see  much  company 
— but  he  daily  received  visits  from  the  first  characters 
in  the  renowned  medical  school  of  this  city,  and  he 
coidd  not  therefore  be  much  in  want  of  society. 
With  so  many  supposed  comforts  around  him — with 
so  many  visions  of  wealth  and  splendour,  one  thing 
alone  distuioed  the  peace  of  the  poor  optimist,  and 
would  indeed  have  confounded  most  bons  vivans, — 
“  He  was  curious,”  he  said,  “  in  his  table,  choice  in 
his  selection  of  cooks,  had  every  day  a.  dinner  of  three 
regular  courses  and  a  dessert ;  and  yet,  somehow  or 
other,  every  thing  he  eat  tasted  of  porridge .”  This 
dilemma  could  be  no  great  wonder  to  the  friend  to 
whom  the  poor  patient  communicated  it,  who  knew 
the  lunatic  eat  nothing  but  this  simple  aliment  at  any 
of  his  meals.  The  case  was  obvious ;  the  disease 
lay  in  the  extreme  vivacity  of  the  patient’s  imagina¬ 
tion,  deluded  in  other  instances,  yet  not  absolutely 
powerful  enough  to  contend  with  the  honest  evidence 
of  his  stomach  and  palate,  which,  like  Lord  Peter’s 
biethren  in  the  Tale  of  a  Tub,  were  indignant  at  the 
attempt  to  impose  boiled  oatmeal  upon  them,  instead 
of  such  a  banquet  as  Ude  would  have  displayed  when 
peers  were  to  partake  of  it.  Here,  therefore,  is  one 
instance  of  actual  insanity,  in  which  the  sense  of 
taste  controlled  and  attempted  to  restrain  the  ideal 
hypothesis  adopted  by  a  deranged  imagination.  But 
the  disorder  to  which  I  previously  alluded  is  entirely 
of  a  bodily  character,  and  consists  principally  in  a 
disease  of  the  visual  organs,  which  present  to  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  27 

patient  a  set  of  spectres  or  appearances,  which  have 
no  actual  existence.  It  is  a  disease  of  the  same  na¬ 
ture,  which  renders  many  men  incapable  of  distin¬ 
guishing  colours ;  only  the  patients  go  a  step  farther, 
and  pervert  the  external  form  of  objects.  In  their 
case,  therefore,  contrary  to  that  of  the  maniac,  it  is 
not  the  mind,  or  rather  the  imagination,  which  imposes 
upon  and  overpowers  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  but 
the  sense  of  seeing  (or  hearing)  which  betrays  its 
duty,  and  conveys  false  ideas  to  a  sane  intellect. 

More  than  one  learned  physician,  who  have  given 
their  attestations  to  the  existence  of  this  most  dis¬ 
tressing  complaint,  have  agreed  that  it  actually  oc¬ 
curs,  and  is  occasioned  by  different  causes.  The 
most  frequent  source  of  the  malady  is  in  the  dissi¬ 
pated  and  intemperate  habits  of  those  who,  by  a 
continued  series  of  intoxication,  become  subject  to 
what  is  popularly  called  the  Blue  Devils,  instances 
of  which  mental  disorder  may  be  known  to  most  who 
have  lived  for  any  period  of  their  lives  in  society 
where  hard-drinking  was  a  common  vice.  The 
joyous  visions  suggested  by  intoxication  when  the 
habit  is  first  acquired,  in  time  disappear,  and  are  sup¬ 
plied  by  frightful  impressions  and  scenes,  which 
destroy  the  tranquillity  of  the  unhappy  debauchee. 
Apparitions  of  the  most  unpleasant  appearance  are 
his  companions  in  solitude,  and  intrude  even  upon 
his  hours  of  society ;  and  when  by  an  alteration  of 
habits,  the  mind  is  cleared  of  these  frightful  ideas,  it 
requires  but  the  slightest  renewal  of  the  association 
to  bring  back  the  full  tide  of  misery  upon  the  re¬ 
pentant  libertine. 

Of  this  the  following  instance  was  told  to  the  au¬ 
thor  by  a  gentleman  connected  with  the  sufferer.  A 
young  man  of  fortune,  who  had  led  what  is  called  so 
gay  a  life  as  considerably  to  injure  both  his  health 
and  fortune,  was  at  length  obliged  to  consult  the 
physician  upon  the  means  of  restoring  at  least  the 
fonner.  One  of  his  principal  complaints  was  the 


28 


LETTERS  ON 


frequent  presence  of  a  set  of  apparitions,  resembling 
a  band  of  figures  dressed  in  green,  who  performed 
in  his  drawing-room  a  singular  dance,  to  which  he 
was  compelled  to  bear  witness,  though  he  knew,  to 
his  great  annoyance,  that  the  whole  corps  de  ballet 
existed  only  in  his  own  imagination.  His  physician 
immediately  informed  him  that  he  had  lived  upon 
town  too  long  and  too  fast  not  to  require  an  exchange 
to  a  more  healthy  and  natural  course  of  life.  He 
therefore  prescribed  a  gentle  course  of  medicine,  but 
earnestly  recommended  to  his  patient  to  retire  to  his 
own  house  in  the  country,  observe  a  temperate  diet 
and  early  hours,  practising  regular  exercise,  on  the 
same  principle  avoiding  fatigue,  and  assured  him  that 
by  doing  so  he  might  bid  adieu  to  black  spirits  and 
white,  blue,  green,  and  gray,  with  all  their  trumpery. 
The  patient  observed  the  advice,  and  prospered.  His 
physician,  after  the  interval  of  a  month,  received  a 
grateful  letter  from  him,  acknowledging  the  success 
of  his  regimen.  The  green  goblins  had  disappeared, 
and  with  them  the  unpleasant  train  of  emotions  to 
which  their  visits  had  given  rise,  and  the  patient  had 
ordered  his  town-house  to  be  disfurnished  and  sold, 
while  the  furniture  was  to  be  sent  down  to  his  resi¬ 
dence  in  the  country,  where  he  was  determined  in 
future  to  spend  his  life,  without  exposing  himself  to 
the  temptations  of  town.  One  would  have  supposed 
this  a  well-devised  scheme  for  health.  But,  alas  \ 
no  sooner  had  the  furniture  of  the  London  drawing¬ 
room  been  placed  in  order  in  the  gallery  of  the  old 
manor-house,  than  the  former  delusion  returned  in  full 
force !  the  green  figurantes,  whom  the  patient’s  de¬ 
praved  imagination  had  so  long  associated  with  these 
moveables,  came  capering  and  frisking  to  accompany 
them,  exclaiming  with  great  glee,  as  if  the  sufferer 
should  have  been  rejoiced  to  see  them,  “  Here  we  all 
are — here  we  all  are  !”  The  visionary,  if  I  recollect 
right,  was  so  much  shocked  at  their  appearance,  that 
he  retired  abroad,  in  despair  that  any  part  of  Britain 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  29 

could  shelter  him  from  the  daily  persecution  of  this 
domestic  ballette. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  such  cases  are  nu¬ 
merous,  and  that  they  may  perhaps  arise,  not  only 
from  the  debility  of  stomach  brought  on  by  excess 
in  wine  or  spirits,  which  derangement  often  sensibly 
affects  the  eyes  and  sense  of  sight,  but  also  because 
the  mind  becomes  habitually  predominated  over  by 
a  train  of  fantastic  visions,  the  consequence  of  fre¬ 
quent  intoxication;  and  is  thus,  like  a  dislocated 
joint,  apt  again  to  go  wrong,  even  when  a  different 
cause  occasions  the  derangement. 

It  is' easy  to  be  supposed  that  habitual  excitement 
by  means  of  any  other  intoxicating  drug,  as  opium, 
or  its  various  substitutes,  must  expose  those  who 
practise  the  dangerous  custom  to  the  same  incon¬ 
venience.  Very  frequent  use  of  the  nitrous  oxide, 
which  affects  the  senses  so  strongly,  and  produces  a 
short  but  singular  state  of  ecstasy,  would  probably  be 
found  to  occasion  this  species  of  disorder.  But  there 
are  many  other  causes  which  medical  men  find 
attended  with  the  same  symptom,  of  imbodying  before 
the  eyes  of  a  patient  imaginary  illusions  which  are 
visible  to  no  one  else.  This  persecution  of  spectral 
deceptions  is  also  found  to  exist  when  no  excesses  of 
the  patient  can  be  alleged  as  the  cause,  owing,  doubt¬ 
less,  to  a  deranged  state  of  the  blood,  or  nervous 
system. 

The  learned  and  acute  Dr.  Ferriar,  of  Manchester, 
was  the  first  who  brought  before  the  English  public 
the  leading  case,  as  it  may  be  called,  in  this  depart¬ 
ment,  namely,  that  of  Mons.  Nicolai,  the  celebrated 
bookseller  of  Berlin.  This  gentleman  was  not  a  man 
merely  of  books,  but  of  letters,  and  had  the  moral 
courage  to  lay  before  the  Philosophical  Society  of 
Berlin  an  account  of  his  own  sufferings,  from  having 
been,  by  disease,  subjected  to  a  series  of  spectral 
illusions.  The  leading  circumstances  of  this  case 
may  be  stated  very  shortly,  as  it  has  been  repeatedly 


30 


LETTERS  ON 


before  the  public,  and  is  insisted  on  by  Dr.  Ferriar,  Dr. 
Hibbert,  and  others  who  have  assumed  Demonology 
as  a  subject.  Nicolai  traces  his  illness  remotely  to 
a  series  of  disagreeable  incidents  which  had  happened 
to  him  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1791.  Tbe 
depression  of  spirit  which  was  occasioned  by  these 
unpleasant  occurrences  was  aided  by  the  consequences 
of  neglecting  a  course  of  periodical  bleeding  which 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  observe.  This  state  of 
health  brought  on  the  disposition  to  see  phantasmata, 
who  visited,  or  it  may  be  more  properly  said  fre¬ 
quented,  the  apartments  of  the  learned  bookseller,  pre¬ 
senting  crowds  of  persons  who  moved  and  acted 
before  him,  nay,  even  spoke  to  and  addressed  him. 
These  phantoms  afforded  nothing  unpleasant  to  the 
imagination  of  the  visionary  either  in  sight  or  expres¬ 
sion,  and  the  patient  was  possessed  of  too  much 
firmness  to  be  otherwise  affected  by  their  presence 
than  with  a  species  of  curiosity,  as  he  remained  con¬ 
vinced,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  disorder, 
that  these  singular  effects  were  merely  symptoms  of 
the  state  of  his  health,  and  did  not  in  any  other  respect 
regard  them  as  a  subject  of  apprehension.  After  a 
certain  time,  and  some  use  of  medicine,  the  phantoms 
became  less  distinct  in  their  outline,  less  vivid  in 
their  colouring,  faded,  as  it  were,  on  the  eye  of  the 
patient,  and  at  length  totally  disappeared. 

The  case  of  Nicolai  has  unquestionably  been  that 
of  many  whose  love  of  science  has  not  been  able  to 
overcome  their  natural  reluctance  to  communicate  to 
the  public  the  particulars  attending  the  visitation  of 
a  disease  so  peculiar.  That  such  illnesses  have  been 
experienced,  and  have  ended  fatally,  there  can  be  no 
doubt;  though  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  inferred,  that 
the  symptom  of  importance  to  our  present  discussion 
has,  on  all  occasions,  been  produced  from  the  same 
identical  cause. 

Dr.  Hibbert,  who  has  most  ingeniously,  as  well  as 
philosophically,  handled  this  subject,  has  treated  it 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


31 


also  in  a  medical  point  of  view,  with  science  to  which 
we  make  no  pretence,  and  a  precision  of  detail  to 
which  our  superficial  investigation  affords  us  no  room 
for  extending  ourselves. 

The  visitation  of  spectral  phenomena  is  described 
by  this  learned  gentleman  as  incidental  to  sundry 
complaints  ;  and  he  mentions,  in  particular,  that  the 
symptom  occurs  not  only  in  plethora,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  learned  Prussian  we  have  just  mentioned,  but 
is  a  frequent  hectic  sympton — often  an  associate  of 
febrile  and  inflammatory  disorders — frequently  accom¬ 
panying  inflammation  of  the  brain — a  concomitant  also 
of  highly  excited  nervous  irritability — equally  con¬ 
nected  with  hypochondria — and  finally,  united  in  some 
cases  with  gout,  and  in  others  with  the  effects  of 
excitation  produced  by  several  gases.  In  all  these 
cases  there  seems  to  be  a  morbid  degree  of  sensibility, 
with  which  this  symptom  is  ready  to  ally  itself,  and 
which  though  inaccurate  as  a  medical  definition,  may 
be  held  sufficiently  descriptive  of  one  character  of  the 
various  kinds  of  disorder  with  which  this  painful 
symptom  may  be  found  allied. 

A  very  singular  and  interesting  illustration  of  such 
combinations  as  Dr.  Hibbert  has  recorded  of  the 
spectral  illusion  with  an  actual  disorder,  and  that  of 
a  dangerous  kind,  was  frequently  related  in  society 
by  the  late  learned  and  accomplished  Dr.  Gregory, 
of  Edinburgh,  and  sometimes,  I  believe,  quoted  by 
him  in  his  lectures.  The  narrative,  to  the  author’s 
best  recollection,  was  as  follows  : — A  patient  of  Dr. 
Gregory,  a  person,  it  is  imderstood,  of  some  rank, 
having  requested  the  Doctor’s  advice,  made  the  fol¬ 
lowing  extraordinary  statement  of  his  complaint. 
“  I  am  in  the  habit,”  he  said,  “  of  dining  at  five,  and 
exactly  as  the  hour  of  six  arrives,  I  am  subjected 
to  the  following  painful  visitation.  The  door  of  the 
room,  even  when  I  have  been  weak  enough  to  bolt 
it,  which  I  have  sometimes  done,  flies  wide  open ;  an 
old  hag,  like  one  of  those  who  haunted  the  heath  of 


32 


LETTERS  ON 


Forres,  enters  with  a  fi  owning  and  incensed  counte¬ 
nance,  comes  straight  up  to  me  with  every  demon¬ 
stration  of  spite  and  indignation  which  could  cha¬ 
racterize  her  who  haunted  the  merchant  Abudah,  in 
the  Oriental  tale  ;  she  rushes  upon  me  ;  says  some¬ 
thing,  but  so  hastily  that  I  cannot  discover  the  pur¬ 
port;  and  then  strikes  me  a  severe  blow  with  her 
staff.  I  fall  from  my  chair  in  a  swoon,  which  is  of 
longer  or  shorter  endurance.  To  the  recurrence  of 
this  apparition  I  am  daily  subjected.  And  such  is 
my  new  and  singular  complaint.”  The  Doctor 
immediately  asked,  whether  his  patient  had  invited 
any  one  to  sit  with  him  when  he  expected  such  a 
visitation  ?  He  was  answered  in  the  negative.  The 
nature  of  the  complaint,  he  said,  was  so  singular,  it 
was  so  likely  to  be  imputed  to  fancy,  or  even  to 
mental  derangement,  that  he  shrunk  from  communi¬ 
cating  the  circumstance  to  any  one.  “  Then,”  said 
the  Doctor,  “  with  your  permission,  I  will  dine  with 
you  to-day,  tete-a-tete ,  and  we  will  see  if  your  malig¬ 
nant  old  woman  will  venture  to  join  our  company.” 
The  patient  accepted  the  proposal  with  hope  and 
gratitude,  for  he  had  expected  ridicule  rather  than 
sympathy.  They  met  at  dinner,  and  Doctor  Gregory, 
who  suspected  some  nervous  disorder,  exerted  his 
powers  of  conversation,  well  known  to  be  of  the 
most  varied  and  brilliant  character,  to  keep  the 
attention  of  his  host  engaged,  and  prevent  him  from 
thinking  on  the  approach  of  the  fated  hour,  to  which 
lie  was  accustomed  to  look  forward  with  so  much 
terror.  He  succeeded  in  his  purpose  better  than  he 
had  hoped.  The  hour  of  six  came  almost  unnoticed, 
and  it  was  hoped,  might  pass  away  without  any  evil 
consequence ;  but  it  was  scarce  a  moment  struck  when 
the  owner  of  the  house  exclaimed,  in  an  alarmed 
voice — “  The  hag  comes  again !”  and  dropped  back 
in  his  chair  in  a  swoon,  in  the  way  he  had  himself 
described.  The  physician  caused  him  to  be  let  blood, 
and  satisfied  himself  that  the  periodical  shocks  of 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  33 

which  his  patient  complained,  arose  from  a  tendency 
to  apoplexy. 

The  phantom  with  the  crutch  was  only  a  species 
of  machinery,  such  as  that  with  which  fancy  is  found 
to  supply  the  disorder  called  Ephialtes,  or  nightmare, 
or  indeed  any  other  external  impression  upon  our 
organs  in  sleep,  which  the  patient’s  morbid  imagina¬ 
tion  may  introduce  into  the  dream  preceding  the 
swoon.  In  the  nightmare  an  oppression  and  suffo¬ 
cation  is  felt,  and  our  fancy  instantly  conjures  up  a 
spectre  to  lie  on  our  bosom.  In  like  manner,  it  may 
be  remarked,  that  any  sudden  noise  which  the  slum- 
berer  hears,  without  being  actually  awakened  by  it 
• — any  casual  touch  of  his  person  occurring  in  the 
same  manner — becomes  instantly  adopted  in  his 
dream,  and  accommodated  to  the  tenor  of  the  cur¬ 
rent  train  of  thought,  whatever  that  may  happen  to 
be ;  and  nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  the  rapidity 
with  which  imagination  supplies  a  complete  expla¬ 
nation  of  the  interruption,  according  to  the  previous 
train  of  ideas  expressed  in  the  dream,  even  when 
scarce  a  moment  of  time  is  allowed  for  that  purpose. 
In  dreaming,  for  example,  of  a  duel,  the  external 
sound  becomes,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  dis¬ 
charge  of  the  combatants’  pistols ; — is  an  orator  ha¬ 
ranguing  in  his  sleep,  the  sound  becomes  the  ap¬ 
plause  of  his  supposed  audience ; — is  the  dreamer 
wandering  among  supposed  ruins,  the  noise  is  that 
of  the  fall  of  some  part  of  the  mass.  In  short  an 
explanatory  system  is  adopted  during  sleep  with 
such  extreme  rapidity,  that  supposing  the  intruding 
alarm  to  have  been  the  first  call  of  some  person  to 
awaken  the  slumberer,  the  explanation,  though  requir¬ 
ing  some  process  of  argument  or  deduction,  is  usually 
formed  and  perfect  before  the  second  effort  of  the 
speaker  has  restored  the  dreamer  to  the  waking  world 
and  its  realities.  So  rapid  and  intuitive  is  the  succes¬ 
sion  of  ideas  in  sleep,  as  to  remind  us  of  the  vision  of  the 
prophet  Mahommed,  in  which  he  saw  the  whole  won- 


34 


LETTERS  ON 


ders  of  heaven  and  hell,  though  the  jar  of  water  which 
fell  when  his  ecstasy  commenced  had  not  spilled  its 
contents  when  he  returned  to  ordinary  existence. 

A  second  and  equally  remarkable  instance  was 
communicated  to  the  author  by  the  medical  man  un¬ 
der  whose  observation  it  fell,  but  who  was,  of  course, 
desirous  to  keep  private  the  name  of  the  hero  of  so 
singular  a  history.  Of  the  friend  by  whom  the  facts 
were  attested,  I  can  only  say,  that  if  I  found  myself 
at  liberty  to  name  him,  the  rank  which  he  holds  in 
his  profession,  as  well  as  his  attainments  in  science 
and  philosophy,  form  an  undisputed  claim  to  the 
most  implicit  credit. 

It  was  the  fortune  of  this  gentleman  to  be  called 
m  to  attend  the  illness  of  a  person  now  long  deceased, 
who  in  his  lifetime  stood,  as  I  understand,  high 
in  a  particular  department  of  the  law,  which  often 
placed  the  property  of  others  at  his  discretion  and 
control,  and  whose  conduct,  therefore,  being  open  to 
public  observation,  he  had  for  many  years  borne  the 
character  of  a  man  of  unusual  steadiness,  good  sense, 
and  integrity.  He  was,  at  the  time  of  my  friend’s 
visits,  confined  principally  to  his  sick-room,  some- 
limes  to  bed,  yet  occasionally  attending  to  business, 
and  exerting  his  mind,  apparently  with  all  its  usual 
strength  and  energy,  to  the  conduct  of  important 
affairs  intrusted  to  him ;  nor  did  there,  to  a  superficial 
observer,  appear  any  thing  in  his  conduct,  while  so 
engaged,  that  could  argue  vacillation  of  intellect,  or 
depression  of  mind.  His  outward  symptoms  of  ma¬ 
lady  argued  no  acute  or  alarming  disease.  But  slow¬ 
ness  of  pulse,  absence  of  appetite,  difficulty  of  diges¬ 
tion,  and  constant  depression  of  spirits,  seemed  to 
draw  their  origin  from  some  hidden  cause,  which  the 
patient  was  determined  to  conceal.  The  deep  gloom 
of  the  unfortunate  gentleman — the  embarrassment, 
which  he  could  not  conceal  from  his  friendly  physi¬ 
cian — the  briefness  and  obvious  constraint  with 
which  he  answered  the  interrogations  of  his  medical 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  35 

adviser ;  induced  my  friend  to  take  other  methods  for 
prosecuting  his  inquiries.  He  applied  to  the  suf¬ 
ferer’s  family,  to  learn,  if  possible,  the  source  of  that 
secret  grief  which  was  gnawing  the  heart  and  suck¬ 
ing  the  life-blood  of  his  unfortunate  patient.  The  per¬ 
sons  applied  to,  after  conversing  together  previously, 
denied  all  knowledge  of  any  cause  for  the  burden 
which  obviously  affected  their  relative.  So  far  as 
they  knew— and  they  thought  they  could  hardly  be 
deceived — his  worldly  affairs  were  prosperous ;  no  fa¬ 
mily  loss  had  occurred  which  could  be  followed  with 
such  persevering  distress ;  no  entanglements  of  affec¬ 
tion  could  be  supposed  to  apply  to  his  age,  and  no 
sensation  of  severe  remorse  could  be  consistent  with 
liis  character.  The  medical  gentleman  had  finally  re¬ 
course  to  serious  argument  with  the  invalid  himself, 
and  urged  to  him  the  folly  of  devoting  himself  to  a 
lingering  and  melancholy  death,  rather  than  tell  the 
subject  of  affliction  which  was  thus  wasting  him. 
He  specially  pressed  upon  him  the  injury  which  he 
was  doing  to  his  own  character,  by  suffering  it  to  be 
inferred  that  the  secret  cause  of  his  dejection  and  its 
consequences  was  something  too  scandalous  or  fla¬ 
gitious  to  be  made  known,  bequeathing  in  this  man¬ 
ner  to  his  family  a  suspected  and  dishonoured  name, 
and  leaving  a  memory  with  which  might  be  asso¬ 
ciated  the  idea  of  guilt,  which  the  criminal  had  died 
without  confessing.  The  patient,  more  moved  by 
this  species  of  appeal  than  by  any  which  had  yet 
been*  urged,  expressed  his  desire  to  speak  out  frankly 

to  Dr. - .  Every  one  else  was  removed,  and  the 

door  of  the  sick-room  made  secure,  when  he  began 
his  confession  in  the  following  manner  r — 

“You  cannot,  my  dear  friend,  be  more  conscious 
than  I,  that  I  am  in  the  course  of  dying  under  the 
oppression  of  the  fatal  disease  which  consumes  my 
vital  powers ;  hut  neither  can  you  understand  the  na¬ 
ture  of  my  complaint,  and  manner  in  which  it  acts 
upon  me,  nor,  if  you  did,  I  fear,  could  your  zeal  and 


36 


LETTERS  ON 


skill  avail  to  lid  me  of  it.” — “  It  is  possible,”  said  tho 
physician,  “  that  my  skill  may  not  equal  my  wish  of 
serving  you;  yet  medical  science  has  many  resources, 
of  which  those  unacquainted  with  its  powers  ne¬ 
ver  can  form  an  estimate.  But  until  you  plainly 
tell  me  your  symptoms  of  complaint,  it  is  impossible 
for  either  of  us  to  say  what  may  or  may  not  be  in 
my  power,  or  within  that  of  medicine.” — •“  I  may 
answer  you,”  replied  the  patient,  “  that  my  case  is 
not  a  singular  one,  since  we  read  of  it  in  the  famous 
novel  of  Le  Sage.  You  remember,  doubtless,  the  dis¬ 
ease  of  which  the  Duke  d’Olivarez  is  there  stated  to 
have  died  I” — “Of  the  idea,”  answered  the  medical 
gentleman,  “  that  he  was  haunted  by  an  apparition, 
to  the  actual  existence  of  which  he  gave  no  credit, 
but  died,  nevertheless,  because  he  was  overcome  and 
heart-broken  by  its  imaginary  presence.” — “  I,  my 
dearest  Doctor,”  said  the  sick  man,  “  am  in  that  very 
case ;  and  so  painful  and  abhorrent  is  the  presence  of 
the  persecuting  vision,  that  my  reason  is  totally  in¬ 
adequate  to  combat  the  effects  of  my  morbid  imagina¬ 
tion,  and  I  am  sensible  I  am  dying,  a  wasted  victim 
to  an  imaginary  disease.”  The  medical  gentleman 
listened  with  anxiety  to  his  patient’s  statement,  and 
for  the  present  judiciously  avoiding  any  contradic¬ 
tion  of  the  sick  man’s  preconceived  fancy,  contented 
himself  with  more  minute  inquiry  into  the  nature  of 
the  apparition  with  which  he  conceived  himself 
haunted,  and  into  the  history  of  the  mode  by  which 
so  singular  a  disease  had  made  itself  master  of  his 
imagination,  secured,  as  it  seemed,  by  strong  powers 
of  the  understanding,  against  an  attack  so  irregular. 
The  sick  person  replied  by  stating,  that  its  advances 
were  gradual,  and  at  first  not  of  a  terrible  or  even 
disagreeable  character.  To  illustrate  this,  he  gave 
the  following  account  of  the  progress  of  his  disease. 

“  My  visions,”  he  said,  “  commenced  two  or  three 
years  sirrce,  when  I  found  myself  from  time  to  time 
embarrassed  by  the  presence  of  a  large  cat,  which 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  37 

came  and  disappeared  I  could  not  exactly  tell  how, 
till  the  truth  was  finally  forced  upon  me,  and  I  was 
compelled  to  regard  it  as  no  domestic  household  cat, 
but  as  a  bubble  of  the  elements,  which  had  no  ex¬ 
istence  save  in  my  deranged  visual  organs,  or  de¬ 
praved  imagination.  Still  I  had  not  that  positive  ob¬ 
jection  to  the  animal  entertained  by  a  late  gallant 
Highland  chieftain,  who  has  been  seen  to  change  to 
all  the  colours  of  his  own  plaid,  if  a  cat  by  accident 
happened  to  be  in  the  room  with  him,  even  though 
he  did  not  see  it.  On  the  contraiy,  I  am  rather  a 
friend  to  cats,  and  endured  with  so  much  equanimity 
the  presence  of  my  imaginary  attendant,  that  it  had 
become  almost  indifferent  to  me ;  when  within  the 
course  of  a  few  months  it  gave  place  to,  or  was  suc¬ 
ceeded  by,  a  spectre  of  a  more  important  sort,  or 
which  at  least  had  a  more  imposing  appearance. 
This  was  no  other  than  the  apparition  of  a  gentle¬ 
man-usher,  dressed  as  if  to  wait  upon  a  Lord-Lieu¬ 
tenant  of  Ireland,  a  Lord  High  Commissioner  of  the 
Kirk,  or  any  other  who  bears  on  his  brow  the  rank 
and  stamp  of  delegated  sovereignty. 

“  This  personage,  arrayed  in  a  court-dress,  with 
bag  and  sword,  tamboured  waistcoat,  and  chapeau- 
bras,  glided  beside  me  like  the  ghost  of  Beau  Nash  ; 
and  whether  in  my  own  house  or  in  another,  as¬ 
cended  the  stairs  before  me,  as  if  to  announce  me  in 
the  drawing-room ;  and  at  some  times  appeared  to 
mingle  with  the  company,  though  it  was  sufficiently 
evident  that  they  were  not  aware  of  his  presence, 
and  that  I  alone  was  sensible  of  the  visionary 
honours  which  this  imaginary  being  seemed  desirous 
to  render  me.  This  freak  of  the  fancy  did  not  pro¬ 
duce  much  impression  on  me,  though  it  led  me  to 
entertain  doubts  on  the  nature  of  my  disorder,  and 
alarm  for  the  effect  it  might  produce  upon  my  intel¬ 
lects.  But  that  modification  of  my  disease  also  had 
its  appointed  duration.  After  a  few  months,  the 
phantom  of  the  gentleman-usher  was  seen  no  more, 

D 


3ft 


LETTERS  ON 


but  was  succeeded  by  one  horrible  to  the  sight,  and 
distressing  to  the  imagination,  being  no  other  than 
the  image  of  death  itself — the  apparition  of  a  skeleton. 
Alone  or  in  company,”  said  the  unfortunate  invalid, 
“  the  presence  of  this  last  phantom  never  quits  me. 
1  in  vain  tell  myself  a  hundred  times  over  that  it  is 
Po  reality,  but  merely  an  image  summoned  up  by  the 
morbid  acuteness  of  my  own  excited  imagination, 
and  deranged  organs  of  sight.  But  what  avail  such 
reflections,  while  the  emblem  at  once  and  presage 
of  mortality  is  before  my  eyes,  and  while  I  feel 
myself,  though  in  fancy  only,  the  companion  of  a 
phantom  representing  a  ghastly  inhabitant  of  the 
grave,  even  while  I  yet  breathe  on  the  earth  ?  Science, 
philosophy,  even  religion  has  no  cure  for  such  a  dis¬ 
order  ;  and  I  feel  too  surely  that  I  shall  die  the  vic¬ 
tim  to  so  melancholy  a  disease,  although  I  have  no 
belief  whatever  in  the  reality  of  the  phantom  which 
it  places  before  me.” 

The  physician  was  distressed  to  perceive,  from 
these  details,  how  strongly  this  visionary  apparition 
was  fixed  in  the  imagination  of  his  patient.  He  in¬ 
geniously  urged  the  sick  man,  who  was  then  in  bed, 
with  questions  concerning  the  circumstances  of  the 
phantom’s  appearance,  trusting  he  might  lead  him, 
as  a  sensible  man,  into  such  contradictions  and  in¬ 
consistencies  as  might  bring  his  common  sense, 
which  seemed  to  be  unimpaired,  so  strongly  into  the 
field,  as  might  combat  successfully  the  fantastic 
disorder  which  produced  such  fatal  effects.  “This 
skeleton,  then,”  said  the  Doctor,  “  seems  to  you  to 
be  always  present  to  your  eyes  ?” — “  It  is  my  fate, 
unhappily,”  answered  the  invalid,  “  always  to  see  it.” 
— “  Then  I  understand,”  continued  the  physician,  “  it 
is  now  present  to  your  imagination'?” — “To  my 
imagination  it  certainly  is  so,”  replied  the  sick  man. 
— “And  in  what  part  of  the  chamber  do  you  now 
conceive  the  apparition  to  appear?”  the  physician 
inquired.  “Immediately  at  the  foot  of  my  bed; 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


39 


when  the  curtains  are  left  a  little  open,”  answered 
the  invalid,  “  the  skeleton,  to  my  thinking,  is  placed 
between  them,  and  fills  the  vacant  space.” — “You 
say  you  are  sensible  of  the  delusion,”  said  his  friend ; 
“have  you  firmness  to  convince  yourself  of  the  truth 
of  this  1  Can  you  take  courage  enough  to  rise  and 
place  yourself  in  the  spot  so  seeming  to  be  occupied, 
and  convince  yourself  of  the  illusion  1”  The  poor 
man  sighed,  and  shook  his  head  negatively.  “  W ell,” 
said  the  doctor,  “  we  will  try  the  experiment  other¬ 
wise.”  Accordingly,  he  rose  from  his  chair  by  the 
bedside,  and  placing  himself  between  the  two  half- 
drawn  curtains  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  indicated  as 
the  place  occupied  by  the  apparition,  asked  if  the 
spectre  was  still  visible  1  “Not  entirely  so,”  replied 
the  patient,  “  because  your  person  is  between  him  and 
me;  but  I  observe  his  scull  peering  above  your 
shoulder.” 

It  is  alleged  the  man  of  science  started  on  the 
instant,  despite  philosophy,  on  receiving  an  answer 
ascertaining,  with  such  minuteness,  that  the  ideal 
spectre  was  close  to  his  own  person.  He  resorted 
to  other  means  of  investigation  and  cure,  but  with 
equally  indifferent  success.  The  patient  sunk  into 
deeper  and  deeper  dejection,  and  died  in  the  same 
distress  of  mind  in  which  he  had  spent  the  latter 
months  of  his  life ;  and  his  case  remains  a  melan¬ 
choly  instance  of  the  power  of  imagination  to  kill 
the  body,  even  when  its  fantastic  terrors  cannot  over¬ 
come  the  intellect  of  the  unfortunate  persons  who 
suffer  under  them.  The  patient,  in  the  present  case, 
sunk  under  his  malady;  and  the  circumstances  of 
his  singular  disorder  remaining  concealed,  he  did 
not,  by  his  death  and  last  illness,  lose  any  of  the 
well-merited  reputation  for  prudence  and  sagacity 
which  had  attended  him  during  the  whole  course  of 
his  life. 

Having  added  these  two  remarkable  instances  to 
the  general  train  of  similar  facts  quoted  by  Ferriar, 


40 


LETTERS  ON 


Hibbert,  and  other  writers,  who  have  more  recently 
considered  the  subject,  there  can,  we  think,  be  little 
doubt  of  the  proposition,  that  the  external  organs 
may,  from  various  causes,  become  so  much  deranged, 
as  to  make  false  representations  to  the  mind;  and 
that,  in  such  cases,  men,  in  the  literal  sense,  really 
see  the  empty  and  false  forms,  and  hear  the  ideal 
sounds,  which,  in  a  more  primitive  state  of  society, 
are  naturally  enough  referred  to  the  action  of  demons 
or  disimbodied  spirits.  In  such  unhappy  cases,  the 
patient  is  intellectually  in  the  condition  of  a  general 
whose  spies  have  been  bribed  by  the  enemy,  and 
who  must  engage  himself  in  the  difficult  and  delica  te 
task  of  examining  and  correcting,  by  his  own  powers 
of  argument,  the  probability  of  the  reports  which 
are  too  inconsistent  to  be  trusted  to. 

But  there  is  a  corollary  to  this  proposition,  which 
is  worthy  of  notice.  The  same  species  of  organic 
derangement  which,  as  a  continued  habit  of  bis 
deranged  vision,  presented  the  subject  of  our  last 
tale  with  the  successive  apparitions  of  his  cat,  his 
gentleman-usher,  and  the  fatal  skeleton,  may  occupy, 
for  a  brief  or  almost  momentary  space,  the  vision  of 
men  who  are  otherwise  perfectly  clear-sighted. 
Transitory  deceptions  are  thus  presented  to  the 
organs,  which,  when  they  occur  to  men  of  strength 
of  mind  and  of  education,  give  way  to  scrutiny,  and, 
their  character  being  once  investigated,  the  true  takes 
the  place  of  the  unreal  representation.  But  in  igno¬ 
rant  times,  those  instances  in  which  any  object  is 
misrepresented,  whether  through  the  action  of  the 
senses,  or  of  the  imagination,  or  the  combined  influ¬ 
ence  of  both,  for  however  short  a  space  of  time,  may 
be  admitted  as  direct  evidence  of  a  supernatural 
apparition ;  a  proof  the  more  difficult  to  be  disputed, 
if  the  phantom  has  been  personally  witnessed  by  a 
man  of  sense  and  estimation,  who,  perhaps,  satisfied 
in  the  general  as  to  the  actual  existence  of  appari¬ 
tions,  has  not  taken  time  or  trouble  to  correct  his 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  41 

first  impressions.  This  species  of  deception  is  so 
frequent,  that  one  of  the  greatest  poets  of  the  pre¬ 
sent  time  answered  a  lady  who  asked  him  if  he 
believed  in  ghosts, — “No,  madam;  I  have  seen 
too  many  myself.”  I  may  mention  one  or  two 
instances  of  the  kind,  to  which  no  doubt  can  be 
attached. 

The  first  shall  be  the  apparition  of  Maupertuis 
to  a  brother  professor  in  the  Royal  Society  of 
Berlin. 

This  extraordinary  circumstance  appeared  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Society,  but  is  thus  stated  by  M. 
Thiebault,  in  his  “Recollections  of  Frederick  the 
Great  and  the  Court  of  Berlin.”  It  is  necessary  to 
premise  that  M.  Gleditsch,  to  whom  the  circumstance 
happened,  was  a  botanist  of  eminence,  holding  the 
professorship  of  natural  philosophy  at  Berlin,  and 
respected  as  a  man  of  an  habitually  serious,  simple, 
and  tranquil  character. 

A  short  time  after  the  death  of  Maupertuis,*  M. 
Gleditsch  being  obliged  to  traverse  the  hall  in  which 
the  Academy  held  its  sittings,  having  some  arrange¬ 
ments  to  make  in  the  cabinet  of  natural  history, 
which  was  under  his  charge,  and  being  willing  to 
complete  them  on  the  Thursday  before  the  meeting, 
he  perceived,  on  entering  the  hall,  the  apparition  of 
M.  de  Maupertuis,  upright  and  stationary,  in  the  first 
angle  on  his  left  hand,  having  his  eyes  fixed  on  him. 
This  was  about  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
professor  of  natural  philosophy  was  too  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  physical  science  to  suppose  that  his 
late  president,  who  had  died  at  Bale,  in  the  family 
of  Messrs.  Bernoullie,  could  have  found  his  way  back 
to  Berlin  in  person.  He  regarded  the  apparition  in 
no  other  light  than  as  a  phantom  produced  by  some 

*  Long  the  president  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  and  much  favoured  by 
Frederick  II.,  till  he  was  overwhelmed  by  the  ridicule  of  Voltaire.  He 
retired,  in  a  species  of  disgrace,  to  his  native  country  of  Switzerland, 
and  died  there  shortly  afterward. 

D  2 


42 


LETTERS  ON 


derangement  of  his  own  proper  organs.  M.  Gleditsch 
went  to  his  own  business,  without  stopping  longer 
than  to  ascertain  exactly  the  appearance  of  that 
object.  But  he  related  the  vision  to  his  brethren, 
and  assured  them  that  it  was  as  defined  and  perfect 
as  the  actual  person  of  Maupertuis  could  have  pre¬ 
sented.  When  it  is  recollected  that  Maupertuis  died 
at  a  distance  from  Berlin,  once  the  scene  of  his  tri¬ 
umphs — overwhelmed  by  the  petulant  ridicule  of 
Voltaire,  and  out  of  favour  with  Frederick,  with 
whom  to  be  ridiculous  was  to  be  worthless — we  can 
hardly  wonder  at  the  imagination  even  of  a  man  of 
physical  science  calling  up  his  Eidolon  in  the  hall  of 
his  former  greatness. 

The  sober-minded  professor  did  not,  however, 
push  his  investigation  to  the  point  to  which  it  was 
carried  by  a  gallant  soldier,  from  whose  mouth  a  par¬ 
ticular  friend  of  the  author  received  the  following 
circumstances  of  a  similar  story. 

Captain  C -  was  a  native  of  Britain,  but  bred 

in  the  Irish  Brigade.  He  was  a  man  of  the  most 
dauntless  courage,  which  he  displayed  in  some  un¬ 
commonly  desperate  adventures  during  the  first 
years  of  the  French  Revolution,  being  repeatedly 
employed  by  the  royal  family  in  very  dangerous 
commissions.  After  the  King’s  death  he  came  over 
to  England,  and  it  was  then  the  following  circum¬ 
stance  took  place. 

Captain  C - was  a  Catholic,  and,  in  his  hour 

of  adversity  at  least,  sincerely  attached  to  the  duties 
of  his  religion.  His  confessor  was  a  clergyman  who 
was  residing  as  chaplain  to  a  man  of  rank  in  the 
west  of  England,  about  four  miles  from  the  place 

where  Captain  C -  lived.  On  riding  over  one 

morning  to  see  this  gentleman,  his  penitent  had  the 
misfortune  to  find  him  very  ill  from  a  dangerous  com¬ 
plaint.  He  retired  in  great  distress  and  apprehension 
of  his  friend’s  life,  and  the  feeling  brought  back  upon 
him  many  other  painful  and  disagreeable  recollec- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  43 

tions.  These  occupied  him  till  the  hour  of  retiring 
to  bed,  when,  to  his  great  astonishment,  lie  saw  in  the 
room  the  figure  of  the  absent  confessor.  He  ad¬ 
dressed  it,  but  received  no  answer — the  eyes  alone 
were  impressed  by  the  appearance.  Determined  to 

push  the  matter  to  the  end,  Captain  C - advanced 

on  the  phantom,  which  appeared  to  retreat  gradually 
before  him.  In  this  manner  he  followed  it  round  the 
bed,  when  it  seemed  to  sink  down  on  an  elbow  chair, 
and  remain  there  in  a  sitting  posture.  To  ascertain 
positively  the  nature  of  the  apparition,  the  soldier 
himself  sat  down  on  the  same  chair,  ascertaining 
thus,  beyond  question,  that  the  whole  was  illusion ; 
yet  he  owned  that,  had  his  friend  died  about  the  same 
time,  he  would  not  well  have  known  what  name  ,  to 
give  to  his  vision.  But  as  the  confessor  recovered, 
and,  in  Dr.  Johnson’s  phrase,  “  nothing  came  of  it,” 
the  incident  was  only  remarkable  as  showing  that 
men  of  the  strongest  nerves  are  not  exempted  from, 
such  delusions. 

Another  illusion  of  the  same  nature  we  have  the 
best  reason  for  vouching  as  a  fact,  though,  for  certain 
reasons,  we  do  not  give  the  names  of  the  parties. 
Not  long  after  the  death  of  a  late  illustrious  poet, 
who  had  filled,  while  living,  a  great  station  in  the  eye 
of  the  public,  a  literary  friend,  to  whom  the  deceased 
had  been  well  known,  was  engaged,  during  the  dark¬ 
ening  twilight  of  an  autumn  evening,  in  perusing  one 
■of  the  publications  which  piofessed  to  detail  the 
habits  and  opinions  of  the  distinguished  individual 
who  was  now  no  more.  As  the  reader  had  enjoyed 
the  intimacy  of  the  deceased  to  a  considerable  degree, 
he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  publication,  which 
contains  some  particulars  relating  to  himself  and 
other  friends.  A  visiter  was  sitting  in  the  apartment, 
who  was  also  engaged  in  reading.  Their  sitting- 
room  opened  into  an  entrance-hall,  rather  fantastic 
cally  fitted  up  with  articles  of  armour,  skins  of  wild 
animals,  and  the  like.  It  was  when  laying  down  his 


44 


LETTERS  ON 


book,  and  passing  into  this  hall,  through  which  the 
moon  was  beginning  to  shine,  that  the  individual  of 
whom  I  speak,  saw,  right  before  him,  and  in  a  stand¬ 
ing  posture,  the  exact  representation  of  his  departed 
friend,  whose  recollection  had  been  so  strongly 
brought  to  his  imagination.  He  stopped  fora  single 
moment,  so  as  to  notice  the  wonderful  accuracy  with 
which  fancy  had  impressed  upon  the  bodily  eye  the 
peculiarities  of  dress  and  posture  of  the  illustrious 
poet.  Sensible,  however,  of  the  delusion,  he  felt  no 
sentiment  save  that  of  wonder  at  the  extraordinary 
accuracy  of  the  resemblance,  and  stepped  onwards 
towards  the  figure,  which  resolved  itself,  as  he  ap¬ 
proached,  into  the  various  materials  of  which  it  was 
composed.  These  were  merely  a  screen,  occupied 
by  great-coats,  shawls,  plaids,  and  such  other  articles 
as  usually  are  found  in  a  country  entrance-hall.  The 
spectator  returned  to  the  spot  from  which  he  had  seen 
the  illusion,  and  endeavoured,  with  all  his  power,  to 
recall  the  image  which  had  been  so  singularly  vivid. 
But  this  was  beyond  his  capacity ;  and  the  person 
who  had  witnessed  the  apparition,  or,  more  properly, 
whose  excited  state  had  been  the  means  of  raising 
it,  had  only  to  return  into  the  apartment,  and  tell  his 
young  friend  under  what  a  striking  hallucination  he 
"had  for  a  moment  laboured. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  instances  of 
this  kind  are  frequent  among  persons  of  a  certain 
temperament,  and  when  such  occur  in  an  early  period 
of  society,  they  are  almost  certain  to  be  considered  as 
real  supernatural  appearances.  They  differ  from 
those  of  Nicolai,  and  others  formerly  noticed,  as  being 
of  short  duration,  and  constituting  no  habitual  or  con¬ 
stitutional  derangement  of  the  system.  The  appa¬ 
rition  of  Maupertuis  to  Monsieur  Gleditsch,  that  of 

the  Catholic  clergyman  to  Captain  C - ,  that  of  a 

.  late  poet  to  his  friend,  are  of  the  latter  character. 
They  bear  to  the  former  the  analogy,  as  we  may  say, 
which  a  sudden  and  temporary  fever-fit  has  to  a  serious 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


45 


feverish  illness.  But,  even  for  this  very  reason,  it  is 
more  difficult  to  bring  such  momentary  impressions 
back  to  their  real  sphere  of  optical  illusions,  since  they 
accord  much  better  with  our  idea  of  glimpses  of  the 
future  world  than  those  in  which  the  vision  is  con¬ 
tinued  or  repeated  for  hours,  days,  and  months,  af¬ 
fording  opportunities  of  discovering,  from  other  cir¬ 
cumstances,  that  the  symptom  originates  in  deranged 
health. 

Before  concluding  these  observations  upon  the  de¬ 
ceptions  of  the  senses,  we  must  remark,  that  the 
eye  is  the  organ  most  essential  to  the  purpose  of 
realizing  to  our  mind  the  appearance  of  external  ob¬ 
jects,  and  that  when  the  visual  organ  becomes  de¬ 
praved  for  a  greater  or  less  time,  and  to  a  farther  or 
more  limited  extent,  its  misrepresentation  of  the  ob¬ 
jects  of  sight  is  peculiarly  apt  to  terminate  in  such 
hallucinations  as  those  we  have  been  detailing.  Yet 
the  other  senses  or  organs,  in  their  turn,  and  to  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  their  power,  are  as  ready,  in  their  various  de¬ 
partments,  as  the  sight  itself,  to  retain  false  or  doubtful 
impressions,  which  mislead,  instead  of  informing-, 
the  party  to  whom  they  are  addressed. 

Thus,  in  regard  to  the  ear,  the  next  organ  in  im¬ 
portance  to  the  eye,  we  are  repeatedly  deceived  by 
such  sounds  as  are  imperfectly  gathered  up  and  erro¬ 
neously  apprehended.  From  the  false  impressions 
received  from  this  organ,  also,  arise  consequences 
similar  to  those  derived  from  erroneous  reports  made 
by  the  organs  of  sight.  A  whole  class  of  supersti¬ 
tious  observances  arise,  and  are  grounded  upon  inac¬ 
curate  and  imperfect  hearing.  To  the  excited  and 
imperfect  state  of  the  ear,  we  owe  the  existence  of 
what  Milton  sublimely  calls  ' 

The  airy  tongues  that  syllable  men’s  names. 

On  shores,  in  desert  sands,  and  wildernesses. 

These  also  appear  such  natural  causes  of  alarm,  that 
we  do  not  sympathize  more  readily  with  Robinson 


46 


LETTERS  ON 


Crusoe’s  apprehensions  when  he  witnesses  the  print 
of  the  savage’s  foot  in  the  sand,  than  in  those  which 
arise  from  his  being  waked  from  sleep  by  some  one 
calling  his  name  in  the  solitary  island,  where  there 
existed  no  man  but  the  shipwrecked  mariner  himself. 
Amid  the  train  of  superstitions  deduced  from  the 
imperfections  of  the  ear,  we  may  quote  that  visionary 
summons  which  the  natives  of  the  Hebrides  acknow¬ 
ledged  as  one  sure  sign  of  approaching  fate.  The 
voice  of  some  absent  or,  probably,  some  deceased 
relative  was,  in  such  cases,  heard  as  repeating  the 
party’s  name.  Sometimes  the  aerial  summoner  inti¬ 
mated  his  own  death,  and  at  others  it  was  no  uncom¬ 
mon  circumstance  that  the  person  who  fancied  him¬ 
self  so  called,  died  in  consequence; — for  the  same 
reason  that  the  negro  pines  to  death  who  is  laid 
under  the  ban  of  an  Obi  woman,  or  the  Cambro-Bri- 
ton,  whose  name  is  put  into  the  famous  cursing  well, 
with  the  usual  ceremonies,  devoting  him  to  the  in¬ 
fernal  gods,  wastes  away  and  dies,  as  one  doomed 
to  do  so.  It  may  be  remarked  also,  that  Dr.  Johnson 
retained  a  deep  impression  that,  while  he  was  open¬ 
ing  the  door  of  his  college  chambers,  he  heard  the 
voice  of  his  mother,  then  at  many  miles’  distance, 
call  him  by  his  name ;  and  it  appears  he  was  rather 
disappointed  that  no  event  of  consequence  followed  a 
summons  sounding  so  decidedly  supernatural.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  dwell  on  this  sort  of  auricular  de¬ 
ception,  of  which  most  men’s  recollection  will  sup¬ 
ply  instances.  The  following  may  be  stated  as  one 
serving  to  show  by  what  slender 'accidents  the  human 
ear  may  be  imposed  upon.  The  author  was  walking, 
about  two  years  since,  in  a  wild  and  solitary  scene 
with  a  young  friend,  who  laboured  under  the  infirm¬ 
ity  of  a  severe  deafness,  when  he  heard  what  he  con¬ 
ceived  to  be  the  cry  of  a  distant  pack  of  hounds, 
sounding  intermittedly.  As  the  season  was  summer, 
this,  on  a  moment’s  reflection,  satisfied  the  hearer 
that  it  could  not  be  the  clamour  of  an  actual  chase, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


47 


and  yet  his  ears  repeatedly  brought  back  the  sup¬ 
posed  cry.  He  called  upon  his  own  dogs,  of  which 
two  or  three  were  with  the  walking  party.  They 
came  in  quietly,  and  obviously  had  no  accession  to 
the  sounds  which  had  caught  the  author’s  attention, 
so  that  he  could  not  help  saying  to  his  companion, 
“  I  am  doubly  sorry  for  your  infirmity  at  this  moment, 
for  I  could  otherwise  have  let  you  hear  the  cry  of 
the  Wild  Huntsman.”  As  the  young  gentleman  used 
a  hearing  tube,  he  turned  when  spoken  to,  and  in 
doing  so,  the  cause  of  the  phenomenon  became  appa¬ 
rent.  The  supposed  distant  sound  was  in  fact  a  nigh 
one,  being  the  singing  of  the  wind  in  the  instrument 
which  the  young  gentleman  was  obliged  to  use,  but 
which,  from  various  circumstances,  had  never  occurred 
to  his  elder  friend  as  likely  to  produce  the  sounds  he 
had  heard. 

It  is  scarce  necessary  to  add,  that  the  highly  ima¬ 
ginative  superstition  of  the  Wild  Huntsman  in  Ger¬ 
many  seems  to  have  had  its  origin  in  strong  fancy, 
operating  upon  the  auricular  deceptions,  respecting 
the  numerous  sounds  likely  to  occur  in  the  dark  re¬ 
cesses  of  pathless  forests.  The  same  clew  may  be 
found  to  the  kindred  Scottish  belief,  so  finely  imbo- 
died  by  the  nameless  author  of  “  Albania — 

“There,  since  of  old  the  haughty  Thanes  of  Ross 
Were  wont,  witli  clans  and  ready  vassals  throng’d, 

To  wake  the  bounding  stag,  or  guilty  wolf ; 

There  oft  is  heard  at  midnight  or  at  noon, 

Beginning  faint,  but  rising  still  more  loud, 

And  louder,  voice  of  hunters,  and  of  hounds, 

And  horns  hoarse-winded,  blowing  far  and  keen. 

Forthwith  the  hubbub  multiplies,  the  air 
Labours  with  louder  shouts  and  rifer  din 
Of  close  pursuit,  the  broken  cry  of  deer 
Mangled  by  throttling  dogs,  the  shouts  of  men, 

And  hoofs,  thick-beating  on  the  hollow  hill : 

Sudden  the  grazing  heifer  in  the  vale 
Starts  at  the  tumult,  and  the  herdsman’s  ears 
Tingle  with  inward  dread.  Aghast  he  eyes 
The  upland  ridge,  and  every  mountain  round, 

But  not  one  trace  of  living  wight  discerns, 

Nor  knows,  o’erawed  and  trembling  as  he  stands, 


48 


LETTERS  ON 


To  what  or  whom  lie  owes  his  idle  fear — 

To  ghost,  to  witch,  to  fairy,  or  to  fiend, 

But  wonders,  and  no  end  of  wondering  finds.”* 


It  must  also  be  remembered,  that  to  the  auricular 
deceptions  practised  by  the  means  of  ventriloquism 
or  otherwise,  may  be  traced  many  of  the  most  suc¬ 
cessful  impostures  which  credulity  has  received  as 
supernatural  communications. 

The  sense  of  touch  seems  less  liable  to  perversion 
than  either  that  of  sight  or  smell,  nor  are  there  many 
cases  in  which  it  can  become  accessary  to  such  false 
intelligence,  as  the  eye  and  ear,  collecting  their  ob¬ 
jects  from  a  greater  distance,  and  by  less  accurate 
inquiry,  are  but  too  ready  to  convey.  Yet  there  is 
one  circumstance  in  which  the  sense  of  touch  as  well 
as  others  is  very  apt  to  betray  its  possessor  into  in¬ 
accuracy,  in  respect  to  the  circumstances  which  it 
impresses  on  its  owner.  The  case  occurs  during 
sleep,  when  the  dreamer  touches  with  his  hand  some 
other  part  of  his  own  person.  He  is  clearly,  in  this 
case,  both  the  actor  and  patient,  both  the  proprietor 
)f  the  member  touching,  and  of  that  which  is  touched ; 
while,  to  increase  the  complication,  the  hand  is  both 
toucher  of  the  limb  on  which  it  rests,  and  receives 
an  impression  of  touch  from  it ;  and  the  same  is  the 
case  with  the  limb,  which  at  one  and  the  same  time 
receives  an  impression  from  the  hand,  and  conveys 
to  the  mind  a  report  respecting  the  size,  substance, 
and  the  like,  of  the  member  touching.  Now,  as  during 
sleep,  the  patient  is  unconscious  that  both  limbs  are 
his  own  identical  property,  his  mind  is  apt  to  be  much 
disturbed  by  the  complication  of  sensations  arising 
from  two  parts  of  his  person  being  at  once  acted  upon, 

*  The  poem  of  “  Albania”  is,  in  its  original  folio  edition,  so  extremely 
scarce,  that  1  have  only  seen  a  copy  belonging  to  the  amiable  and  in 
genious  Dr.  Beattie,  besides  the  one  which  I  myself  possess,  printed  in 
the  earlier  part  of  last  century.  It  was  reprinted  by  my  late  friend  Dr. 
Leyden,  in  a  small  volume,  entitled  “Scottish  Descriptive  Poems.” 
“  Albania”  contains  the  above,  and  many  other  poetical  passages  of  the 
highest  merit. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


49 


and  from  their  reciprocal  action  and  false  impres¬ 
sions  are  thus  received,  which,  accurately  inquired 
into,  would  afford  a  clew  to  many  puzzling  pheno¬ 
mena  in  the  theory  of  dreams.  This  peculiarity  of 
the  organ  of  touch,  as  also  that  it  is  confined  to  no 
particular  organ,  but  is  diffused  over  the  whole  per¬ 
son  of  the  man,  is  noticed  by  Lucretius : — 

Ut  si  forte  manu,  quam  vis  jam  corporis,  ipse 

Tute  tibi  partem  I'erias,  sque  experiare. 


A  remarkable  instance  of  such  an  illusion  was  told 
me  by  a  late  nobleman.  He  had  fallen  asleep,  with 
some  uneasy  feelings  arising  from  indigestion.  They 
operated  in  their  usual  course  of  visionary  terrors. 
At  length  they  were  all  summed  up  in  the  apprehen¬ 
sion,  that  the  phantom  of  a  dead  man  held  the  sleeper 
by  the  wrist,  and  endeavoured  to  drag  him  out  of 
bed.  He  awaked  in  horror,  and  still  felt  the  cold 
dead  grasp  of  a  corpse’s  hand  on  his  right  wrist.  It 
was  a  minute  before  he  discovered  that  his  own  left 
hand  was  in  a  state  of  numbness,  and  with  it  he  had 
accidentally  encircled  his  right  arm. 

Tire  taste  and  the  smell,  like  the  touch,  convey 
more  direct  intelligence  than  the  eye  and  the  ear, 
and  are  less  likely  than  those  senses  to  aid  in  mis¬ 
leading  the  imagination.  We  have  seen  the  palate, 
in  the  case  of  the  porridge-fed  lunatic,  enter  its 
protest  against  the  acquiescence  of  eyes,  ears,  and 
touch,  in  the  gay  visions  which  gilded  the  patient’s 
confinement.  The  palate,  however,  is  subject  to 
imposition  as  well  as  the  other  senses.  The  best 
and  most  acute  bon  vivant  loses  his  power  of  dis¬ 
criminating-, between  different  kinds  of  wine,  if  he  is 
prevented  from  assisting  his  palate  by  the  aid  of  his 
eyes, — tSkt  is,  if  the  glasses  of  each  are  administered 
indiscriminately  while  he  is  blindfolded.  Nay,  we 
are  authorized  to  believe,  that  individuals  have  died 
in  consequence  of  having  supposed  themselves  to 
have  taken  poison,  when,  in  reality,  the  draught 

E 


50 


LETTERS  ON 


they  had  swallowed  as  such,  was  of  an  innoxious  or 
restorative  quality.  The  delusions  of  the  stomach  can 
seldom  bear  upon  our  present  subject,  and  are  not 
otherwise  connected  with  supernatural  appearances, 
than  as  a  good  dinner  and  its  accompaniments  are 
essential  in  fitting  out  a  daring  Tam  O’Shanter,  who 
is  fittest  to  encounter  them,  when  the  poet’s  observa¬ 
tion  is  not  unlikely  to  apply — 

“Inspiring  bauld  John  Barleycorn, 

Wliat  dangers  thou  canst  make  us  scorn  1 
Wi’  tippenny  we  fear  nae  evil, 

Wi’  .usquebae  we  ’ll  face  the  Devil, 

The  swats  sae  ream’d  in  Tammie’s  noddle, 

Fair  play,  he  caredna  deils  a  bodle  !” 


Neither  has  the  sense  of  smell,  in  its  ordinary 
state,  much  connexion  with  our  present  subject. 
Mr.  Aubrey  tells  us,  indeed,  of  an  apparition,  which 
disappeared  with  a  curious  perfume  as  well  as  a 
most  melodious  twang ;  and  popular  belief  ascribes 
to  the  presence  of  infernal  spirits,  a  strong  relish 
of  the  sulphureous  element  of  which  they  are  in¬ 
habitants.  Such  accompaniments,  therefore,  are 
usually  united  with  other  materials  for  imposture. 
If,  as  a  general  opinion  assures  us,  which  is  not 
positively  discountenanced  by  Dr.  Hibbert,  by  the 
inhalation  of  certain  gases  or  poisonous  herbs, 
necromancers  can  dispose  a  person  to  believe  he 
sees  phantoms,  it  is  likely  that  the  nostrils  are 
made  to  inhale  such  suffumigation,  as  well  as  the 
mouth.* 

I  have  now  arrived,  by  a  devious  path,  at  the 
conclusion  of  this  letter,  the  object  of  which  is  to 


*  Most  ancient  authors,  who  pretend  to  treat  of  the  wonders  of  na¬ 
tural  magic,  give  receipts  for  calling  up  phantoms.  The  lighting  lamps 
fed  by  peculiar  kinds  of  medicated  oil,  and  the  use  of  sumimigations 
of  strong  and  deleterious  herbs,  are  the  means  recommended.  From 
these  authorities,  perhaps,  a  professor  of  legerdemain  assured  Dr. 
Alderson,  of  Hull,  that  he  could  compose  a  preparation  of  antimony, 
sulphur,  and  other  drugs,  which, when  burnt  in  a  confined  room,  would 
have  the  effect  of  causing  the  patient  to  suppose  he  saw  phantoms,— 
gee  Hibbert  on  Apparitions  p.  120. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  51 

show  from  what  attributes  of  our  nature,  whether 
mental  or  corporeal,  arises  that  predisposition  to 
believe  in  supernatural  occurrences.  It  is,  I  think, 
conclusive,  that  mankind,  from  a  very  early  period, 
have  their  minds  prepared  for  such  events  by  the 
consciousness  of  the  existence  of  a  spiritual  world, 
inferring  in  the  general  proposition  the  undeniable 
truth,  that  each  man,  from  the  monarch  to  the 
beggar,  who  has  once  acted  his  part  on  the  stage, 
continues  to  exist,  and  may  again,  even  in  a  dis- 
imbodied  state,  if  such  is  the  pleasure  of  Heaven, 
for  aught  that  we  know  to  the  contrary,  be  per¬ 
mitted  or  ordained  to  mingle  among  those  who 
yet  remain  in  the  body.  The  abstract  possibility 
of  apparitions  must  be  admitted  by  every  one  who 
believes  in  a  Deity  and  his  superintending  omni¬ 
potence.  But  imagination  is  apt  to  intrude  its 
explanations  and  inferences  founded  on  inadequate 
evidence.  Sometimes  our  violent  and  inordinate 
passions,  originating  in  sorrow  for  our  friends, 
remorse  for  our  crimes,  our  eagerness  of  patriot¬ 
ism,  or  our  deep  sense  of  devotion — these  or  other 
violent  excitements  of  a  moral  character,  in  the 
visions  of  night,  or  the  rapt  ecstasy  of  the  day, 
persuade  us  that  we  witness,  with  our  eyes  and  ears, 
an  actual  instance  of  that  supernatural  communica¬ 
tion,  the  possibility  of  which  cannot  be  denied.  At 
other  times,  the  corporeal  organs  impose  upon  the 
mind,  while  the  eye  and  the  ear,  diseased,  deranged, 
or  misled,  convey  false  impressions  to  the  patient. 
Very  often  both  the  mental  delusion  and  the  physical 
deception  exist  at  the  same  time,  and  men’s  belief 
of  the  phenomena  presented  to  them,  however  errone¬ 
ously,  by  the  senses,  is  the  firmer  and  more  readily 
granted,  that  the  physical  impression  corresponded 
with  the  mental  excitement. 

So  many  causes  acting  thus  upon  each  other  in 
various  degrees,  or  sometimes  separately,  it  must 
Happen  early  in  the  infancy  of  every  society,  that 


62 


LETTERS  ON 


there  should  occur  many  apparently  well-authen¬ 
ticated  instances  of  supernatural  intercourse,  satis¬ 
factory  enough  to  authenticate  peculiar  examples 
of  the  general  proposition  which  is  impressed  upon 
us  by  belief  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  These 
examples  of  undeniable  apparitions  (for  they  are 
apprehended  to  be  incontrovertible),  fall  like  the 
seed  of  the  husbandman,  into  fertile  and  prepared 
soil,  and  are  usually  followed  by  a  plentiful  crop  of 
superstitious  figments,  which  derive  their  sources 
from  circumstances  and  enactments  in  sacred  and 
profane  history,  hastily  adopted,  and  prevented  from 
their  genuine  reading.  This  shall  be  the  subject  of 
my  next  letter. 


LETTER  II. 

Consequences  of  the  Fall  on  the  communication  between  Men  and  the 
Spiritual  World — Eli'ects  of  the  Flood — Wizards  of  Pharaoh— Text 
in  Exodus  against  Witches— The  word  Witch  is  by  some  said  to  mean 
merely  Poisoner — Or  if  in  the  Holy  Text  it  also  means  a  Divineress,  she 
must,  at  any  rate,  have  been  a  Character  very  different  to  be  identified 
with  it — The  original,  Chasaph,  said  to  mean  a  Person  who  dealt  in 
Poisons,  often  a  traflic  of  those  who  dealt  with  familiar  Spirits — But 
different  from  the  European  Witch  of  the  Middle  Ages — Thus  a 
Witch  is  not  accessary  to  the  Temptation  of  Job — The  Witch  of  the 
Hebrews  probably  did  not  rank  higher  than  a  Divining  Woman — Yet 
it  was  a  Crime  deserving  the  Doom  of  Death,  since  it  inferred  the 
disowning  of  Jehovah’s  Supremacy — Other  Texts  of  Scripture,  in  like 
manner,  refer  to  something  corresponding  more  with  a  Fortune-teller 
or  Divining  Woman,  than  what  is  now  called  a  Witch— Example  of 
the  Witch  of  Endor — Account  of  her  Meeting  with  Saul — Supposed 
by  some  a  mere  Impostor — By  others,  a  Sorceress  powerful  enough  to 
raise  the  Spirit  of  the  Prophet  by  her  own  Art— Difficulties  attending 
both  Positions — A  middle  course  adopted,  supposing  that,  as  in  the 
case  of  Balak,  the  Almighty  had,  by  exertion  of  his  Will,  substituted 
Samuel,  or  a  good  spirit  in  his  character,  for  the  deception  which  the 
Witch  intended  to  produce — Resumption  of  the  Argument,  showing 
that  the  Witch  of  Endor  signified  something  very  different  from  the 
modern  ideas  of  Witchcraft— The  Witches  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  are  not  less  different  from  modern  ideas,  than  those  of  the 
Books  of  Moses,  nor  do  they  appear  to  have  possessed  the  Power 
ascribed  to  Magicians— Articles  of  Faith  which  we  may  gather  from 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


53 


Scripture  on  this  Point — That  there  might  be  certain  Powers  permitted 
by  the  Almighty  to  inferior,  and  even  evil  Spirits,  is  possible ;  and  in 
some  Sense,  the  Gods  of  the  Heathens  might  be  accounted  Demons — 
More  frequently,  and  in  a  general  Sense,  they  were  but  Logs  of  Wood, 
without  Sense  or  Power  of  any  Kind,  and  their  Worship  founded  on 
Imposture — Opinion  that  the  Oracles  were  silenced  at  the  Nativity, 
adopted  by  Milton — Cases  of  Demoniacs — The  incarnate  Possessions 
probably  ceased  at  the  same  Time  as  the  Intervention  of  Miracles — 
Opinion  of  the  Catholics — Result  that  Witchcraft,  as  the  Word  is 
interpreted  in  the  Middle  Ages,  neither  occurs  under  the  Mosaic  or 
Gospel  Dispensation — It  arose  in  the  ignorant  Period,  when  the 
Christians  considered  the  Gods  of  the  Mahommedan  or  Heathen  Na¬ 
tions  as  Fiends,  and  their  Priests  as  Conjurers  or  Wizards — Instance 
as  to  the  Saracens,  and  among  the  Northern  Europeans  yet  unconvert¬ 
ed — The  Gods  of  Mexico  and  Peru  explained  on  the  same  System — 
Also  the  Powahs  of  North  America — Opinion  of  Mather — Gibb,  a 
supposed  Warlock,  persecuted  by  the  other  Dissenters — Conclusion. 

What  degree  of  communication  might  have  existed 
between  the  human  race  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
other  world,  had  our  first  parents  kept  the  commands 
of  the  Creator,  can  only  be  a  subject  of  unavailing 
speculation.  We  do  not,  perhaps,  presume  too  much 
when  we  suppose,  with  Milton,  that  one  necessary 
consequence  of  eating  the  “  fruit  of  that  forbidden 
tree,”  was  removing  to  a  wider  distance  from  celestial 
essences  the  beings,  who,  although  originally  but  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels,  had,  by  their  own  crime, 
forfeited  the  gift  of  immortality,  and  degraded  them¬ 
selves  into  an  inferior  rank  in  creation. 

Some  communication  between  the  spiritual  world, 
by  the  union  of  those  termed  in  Scripture  “  Sons  of 
God,”  and  the  daughters  of  Adam,  still  continued 
after  the  fall,  though  their  inter-alhance  was  not 
approved  of  by  the  Ruler  of  mankind.  We  are 
given  to  understand,  darkly  indeed,  but  with  as  much 
certainty  as  we  can  be  entitled  to  require,  that  the 
mixture  between  the  two  species  of  created  beings 
was  sinful  on  the  part  of  both,  and  displeasing  to  the 
Almighty.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  extreme 
longevity  of  the  antediluvian  mortals  prevented  their 
feeling  sufficiently  that  they  had  brought  themselves 
under  the  banner  of  Azrael,  the  angel  of  death,  and 
removed  to  too  great  a  distance  the  period  between 


54 


LETTERS  ON 


their  crime  and  its  punishment.  The  date  of  the 
avenging  Flood  gave  birth  to  a  race,  whose  life  was 
gradually  shortened,  and  who,  being  admitted  to 
slighter  and  rarer  intimacy  with  beings  who  pos¬ 
sessed  a  higher  rank  in  creation,  assumed,  as  of 
course,  a  lower  position  in  the  scale.  Accordingly, 
after  this  period,  we  hear  no  more  of  those  unnatural 
alliances  which  preceded  the  flood,  and  are  given  to 
understand  that  manidnd,  dispersing  into  different 
parts  of  the  world,  separated  from  each  other,  and 
began,  in  various  places,  and  under  separate  auspices, 
to  pursue  the  work  of  replenishing  the  world,  which 
had  been  imposed  upon  them  as  an  end  of  their  crea¬ 
tion.  In  the  mean  time,  while  the  Deity  was  pleased 
to  continue  his  manifestations  to  those  who  were 
destined  to  be  the  fathers  of  his  elect  people,  we  are 
made  to  understand  that  wicked  men,  it  may  be  by 
the  assistance  of  fallen  angels,  were  enabled  to  assert 
rank  with,  and  attempt  to  match,  the  prophets  of  the 
God  of  Israel.  The  matter  must  remain  uncertain, 
whether  it  was  by  sorcery  or  legerdemain  that  the 
wizards  of  Pharaoh,  King  of  Egypt,  contended  with 
Moses,  in  the  face  of  the  prince  and  people,  changed 
their  rods  into  serpents,  and  imitated  several  of  the 
plagues  denounced  against  the  devoted  kingdom. 
Those  powers  of  the  Magr,  however,  whether  obtained 
by  supernatural  communications, or  arising  from  know¬ 
ledge  of  legerdemain  andits  kindred  accomplishments, 
were  openly  exhibited ;  and  who  can  doubt  that,  though 
we  may  be  left  in  some  darkness  both  respecting  the 
extent  of  their  skill  and  the  source  from  which  it 
was  drawn,  we  are  told  all  which  it  can  be  important 
for  us  to  know!  We  arrive  here  at  the  period  when 
the  Almighty  chose  to  take  upon  himself  directly  to 
legislate  for  his  chosen  people,  without  having 
obtained  any  accurate  knowledge,  whether  the  crime 
of  witchcraft,  or  the  intercourse  between  the  spiritual 
world  and  imbodied  beings,  for  evil  purposes,  eithci 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  55 

existed  after  the  flood,  or  was  visited  with  any  open 
marks  of  Divine  displeasure. 

But  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  dictated  by  the  Divinity 
himself,  was  announced  a  text,  which,  as  interpreted 
literally,  having  been  inserted  into  the  criminal  code 
of  all  Christian  nations,  has  occasioned  much  cruelty 
and  bloodshed,  either  from  its  tenor  being  misunder¬ 
stood,  or  that,  being  exclusively  calculated  for  the 
Israelites,  it  made  part  of  the  judicial  Mosaic  dispen¬ 
sation,  and  was  abrogated,  like  the  greater  part  of 
that  law,  by  the  more  benign  and  clement  dispensa¬ 
tion  of  the  Gospel. 

The  text  alluded  to  is  that  verse  of  the  twenty 
second  chapter  of  Exodus,  bearing,  “  men  shall  not 
suffer  a  witch  to  live.”  Many  learned  men  have 
affirmed,  that  in  this  remarkable  passage  the  Hebrew 
word  chasaph  means  nothing  more  than  poisoner, 
although,  like  the  word  veneficus,  by  which  it  is  ren¬ 
dered  in  the  Latin  version  of  the  Septuagint,  other 
learned  men  contend,  that  it  hath  the  meaning  of  a 
witch  also,  and  may  be  understood  as  denoting  a 
person  who  pretended  to  hurt  his  or  her  neighbours 
in  life,  limb,  or  goods,  either  by  noxious  potions,  by 
charms,  or  similar  mystical  means.  In  this  particular 
the  witches  of  Scripture  had  probably  some  resem¬ 
blance  to  those  of  ancient  Europe,  who,  although 
their  skill  and  power  might  be  safely  despised,  as 
long  as  they  confined  themselves  to  their  charms  and 
spells,  were  very  apt  to  eke  out  their  capacity  of 
mischief  by  the  use  of  actual  poison,  so  that  the 
epithet  of  sorceress  and  poisoner  were  almost  syno¬ 
nymous.  This  is  known  to  have  been  the  case  in 
many  of  those  darker  iniquities,  which  bear  as  theii 
characteristic  something  connected  with  hidden  ana 
prohibited  arts.  Such  was  the  statement  in  the 
endictment  of  those  concerned  in  the  famous  murder 
of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  when  the  arts  of  Forman 
and  other  sorcerers  having  been  found  insufficient  to 
touch  the  victim’s  life,  practice  by  poison  was  at 


56 


LETTERS  ON 


length  successfully  resorted  to ;  and  numerous  simi¬ 
lar  instances  might  be  quoted.  But  supposing  that 
the  Hebrew  witch  proceeded  only  by  charms,  invo¬ 
cations,  or  such  means  as  might  be  innoxious,  save 
for  the  assistance  of  demons  or  familiars,  the  con¬ 
nexion  between  the  conjurer  and  the  demon  must 
have  been  of  a  very  different  character,  under  the 
law  of  Moses,  from  that  which  was  conceived,  in 
latter  days,  to  constitute  witchcraft.  There  was  no 
contract  of  subjection  to  a  diabolic  power,  no  infernal 
stamp  or  sign  of  such  a  fatal  league,  no  revellings  of 
Satan  and  his  hags,  and  no  infliction  of  disease  or 
misfortune  upon  good  men.  At  least  there  is  not  a 
word  in  Scripture  authorizing  us  to  believe  that 
such  a  system  existed.  On  the  contrary,  we  are 
told  (how  far  literally,  how  far  metaphorically,  it  is 
not  for  us  to  determine),  that,  when  the  Enemy  of 
mankind  desired  to  probe  the  virtue  of  Job  to  the 
bottom,  he  applied  for  permission  to  the  Supreme 
Governor  of  the  world,  who  granted  him  liberty  to 
try  his  faithful  servant  with  a  storm  of  disasters,  for 
the  more  brilliant  exhibition  of  the  faith  which  he 
reposed  in  his  Maker.  In  all  this,  had  the  scene 
occurred  after  the  manner  of  the  like  events  in  latter 
days,  witchcraft,  sorceries,  and  charms  would  have 
been  introduced,  and  the  Devil,  instead  of  his  own 
permitted  agency,  would  have  employed  his  servant 
the  witch,  as  the  necessary  instrument  of  the  Man 
of  Uz’s  afflictions.  In  like  manner,  Satan  desired 
to  have  Peter,  that  he  might  sift  him  like  wheat. 
But  neither  is  there  here  the  agency  of  any  sorcerer 
or  witch.  Luke  xxii.  31. 

Supposing  the  powers  of  the  witch  to  be  limited, 
in  the  time  of  Moses,  to  inquiries  at  some  pretended 
deity  or  real  evil  spirit  concerning  future  events,  in 
what  respect,  may  it  be  said,  did  such  a  crime 
deserve  the  severe  punishment  of  death  1  To  an¬ 
swer  this  question,  we  must  reflect,  that  the  object 
of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  being  to  preserve  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


57 


knowledge  of  the  true  Deity  within  the  breasts  of 
a  selected  and  separated  people,  the  God  of  Jacob 
necessarily  showed  himself  a  jealous  God  to  all  who, 
straying  from  the  path  of  direct  worship  of  Jehovah, 
had  recourse  to  other  deities,  whether  idols  or  evil 
spirits,  the  gods  of  the  neighbouring  heathen.  The 
swerving  from  their  allegiance  to  the  true  Divinity, 
to  the  extent  of  praying  to  senseless  stocks  and 
stones,  which  could  return  them  no  answer,  was,  by 
the  Jewish  law,  an  act  of  rebellion  to  their  own  Lord 
God,  and  as  such  most  fit  to  be  punished  capitally. 
Thus  the  prophets  of  Baal  were  deservedly  put  to 
death,  not  on  account  of  any  success  which  they  might 
obtain  by  their  intercessions  and  invocations  (which, 
though  enhanced  with  all  their  vehemence,  to  the 
extent  of  cutting  and  wounding  themselves,  proved 
so  utterly  unavailing,  as  to  incur  the  ridicule  of  the 
prophet),  but  because  they  were  guilty  of  apostacy 
from  the  real  Deity,  while  they  worshipped,  and  en¬ 
couraged  others  to  worship,  the  false  divinity  Baal. 
The  Hebrew  witch,  therefore,  or  she  who  commu¬ 
nicated,  or  attempted  to  communicate,  with  an  evil 
spirit,  was  justly  punished  with  death,  though  her 
communication  with  the  spiritual  world  might  either 
not  exist  at  all,  or  be  of  a  nature  much  less  intimate 
than  has  been  ascribed  to  the  witches  of  later  days  ; 
nor  does  the  existence  of  this  law,  against  the 
witches  of  the  Old  Testament,  sanction,  in  any  re¬ 
spect,  the  severity  of  similar  enactments  subsequent 
to  the  Christian  revelation,  against  a  different  class  of 
persons,  accused  of  a  very  different  species  of  crime. 

In  another  passage,  the  practices  of  those  persons 
termed  witches  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  are  again 
alluded  to  ;  and  again  it  is  made  manifest  that  the 
sorcery  or  witchcraft  of  the  Old  Testament  resolves 
itself  into  a  trafficking  with  idols,  and  asking  counsel 
of  false  deities  ;  in  other  words,  into  idolatry,  which, 
notwithstanding  repeated  prohibitions,  examples,  and 
judgments,  was  still  the  prevailing  crime  of  the 


58 


LETTERS  ON 


Israelites.  The  passage  alluded  to  is  in  Deuteronomy 
xviii.  10,  11. — “  There  shall  not  be  found  among  you 
any  one  that  maketh  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass 
through  the  fire,  or  that  useth  divination,  or  an  ob¬ 
server  of  times,  or  an  enchanter,  or  a  witch,  or  a 
charmer,  or  a  consulter  with  familiar  spirits,  or  a 
wizard,  or  a  necromancer.”  Similar  denunciations 
occur  in  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  chapters  of 
Leviticus.  In  like  manner,  it  is  a  charge  against 
Manasses,  2  Chronicles  xxxviii.,  that  he  caused  his 
children  to  pass  through  the  fire,  observed  times,  used 
enchantments  and  witchcraft,  and  dealt  with  familiar 
spirits  and  with  wizards.  These  passages  seem  to 
concur  with  the  former  in  classing  witchcraft  among 
other  desertions  of  the  prophets  of  the  Deity,  in 
order  to  obtain  responses  by  the  superstitious  prac¬ 
tices  of  the  pagan  nations  around  them.  To  under¬ 
stand  the  texts  otherwise,  seems  to  confound  the 
modern  system  of  witchcraft,  with  all  its  unnatural 
and  improbable  outrages  on  common  sense,  with  the 
crime  of  the  person  who,  in  classical  days,  consulted 
the  oracle  of  Apollo ; — a  capital  offence  in  a  Jew, 
but  surely  a  venial  sin  in  an  ignorant  and  deluded 
pagan.” 

To  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  Hebrew  witch  and 
her  prohibited  criminal  traffic,  those  who  have 
written  on  this  subject  have  naturally  dwelt  upon 
the  interview  between  Saul  and  the  Witch  of  Endor, 
the  only  detailed  and  particular  account  of  such  a 
transaction  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  Bible ; — a 
fact,  by-the-way,  which  proves  that  the  crime  of 
witchcraft  (capitally  punished  as  it  was  when  disco¬ 
vered),  was  not  frequent  among  the  chosen  people, 
who  enjoyed  such  peculiar  manifestations  of  the  Al¬ 
mighty’s  presence.  The  Scriptures  seem  only  to 
have  conveyed  to  us  the  general  fact  (being  what  is 
chiefly  edifying)  of  the  interview  between  the  Witch 
and  the  King  of  Israel.  They  inform  us,  that  Saul, 
disheartened  and  discouraged  by  the  general  defec- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  59 

(ion  of  his  subjects,  and  the  consciousness  of  his  own 
unworthy  and  ungrateful  disobedience,  despairing  of 
obtaining  an  answer  from  the  offended  Deity,  who 
had  previously  communicated  with  him  through  his 
prophets,  at  length  resolved,  in  his  desperation,  to 
go  to  a  divining  woman,  by  which  course  he  involved 
himself  in  the  crime  of  the  person  whom  he  thus 
consulted,  against  whom  the  law  denounced  death, 
—a  sentence  which  had  been  often  executed  by  Saul 
himself  on  similar  offenders.  Scripture  proceeds 
to  give  us  the  general  information,  that  the  king  di¬ 
rected  the  witch  to  call  up  the  spirit  of  Samuel,  and 
that  the  female  exclaimed,  that  gods  had  arisen  out 
of  the  earth — That  Saul,  more  particularly  requiring 
a  description  of  the  apparition  (whom,  consequently, 
he  did  not  himself  see),  she  described  it  as  the  figure 
of  an  old  man  with  a  mantle.  In  this  figure  the 
king  acknowledges  the  resemblance  of  Samuel,  and, 
sinking  on  his  face,  hears  from  the  apparition,  speak¬ 
ing  in  the  character  of  the  prophet,  the  melancholy 
prediction  of  his  own  defeat  and  death. 

In  this  description,  though  all  is  told  which  is  ne¬ 
cessary  to  convey  to  us  an  awful  moral  lesson,  yet 
we  are  left  ignorant  of  the  minutiae  attending  the 
apparition,  which  perhaps  we  ought  to  accept  as  a 
sure  sign,  that  there  was  no  utility  in  our  being  made 
acquainted  with  them.  It  is  impossible,  for  instance, 
to  know  with  certainty  whether  Saul  was  present 
when  the  woman  used  her  conjuration,  or  whether 
he  himself  personally  ever  saw  the  appearance 
which  the  Pyfhoness  described  to  him.  It  is  left 
still  more  doubtful  whether  any  thing  supernatural 
was  actually  evoked,  or  whether  the  Pythoness  and 
her  assistant  meant  to  practise  a  mere  deception, 
taking  their  chance  to  prophesy  the  defeat  and  death 
of  the  broken-spirited  king,  as  an  event  which  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed  rendered 
highly  probable,  since  he  was  surrounded  by  a  su¬ 
perior  army  of  Philistines,  and  his  character  as  a 


60 


LETTERS  ON 


soldier  rendered  it  likely  that  he  would  not  survive 
a  defeat,  which  must  involve  the  loss  of  his  king¬ 
dom.  On  the  other  hand,  admitting  that  the  appa¬ 
rition  had  really  a  supernatural  character,  it  remains 
equally  uncertain  what  was  its  nature,  or  by  what 
power  it  was  compelled  to  an  appearance,  impleasing, 
as  it  intimated,  since  the  supposed  spirit  of  Samuel 
asks  wherefore  he  was  disquieted  in  the  grave. 
Was  the  power  of  the  witch  over  the  invisible  world 
so  great,  that,  like  the  Erictho  of  the  heathen  poet, 
she  could  disturb  the  sleep  of  the  just,  and  especially 
that  of  a  prophet  so  important  as  Samuel ;  and  are 
we  to  suppose  that  he,  upon  whom  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  was  wont  to  descend,  even  while  he  was 
clothed  with  frail  mortality,  should  be  subject  to  be 
disquieted  in  his  grave,  at  the  voice  of  a  vile  witch, 
and  the  command  of  an  apostate  prince  1  Did  the 
true  Deity  refuse  Saul  the  response  of  his  prophets, 
and  could  a  witcli  compel  the  actual  spirit  of  Samuel 
to  make  answer  notwithstanding  1 
Embarrassed  by  such  difficulties,  another  course 
of  explanation  has  been  resorted  to,  which,  freed 
from  some  of  the  objections  which  attend  the  two 
extreme  suppositions,  is  yet  liable  to  others.  It  has 
been  supposed  that  something  took  place  upon  this 
remarkable  occasion,  similar  to  that  which  disturbed 
the  preconcerted  purpose  of  the  prophet  Balaam,  and 
compelled  him  to  exchange  his  premeditated  curses 
for  blessings.  According  to  this  hypothesis,  the  di¬ 
vining  woman  of  Endor  was  preparing  to  practise 
upon  Saul  those  tricks  of  legerdemain  or  jugglery  by 
which  she  imposed  upon  meaner  clients  who  resorted 
to  her  oracle.  Or  we  may  conceive  that,  in  those 
days,  when  the  laws  of  nature  were  frequently  sus¬ 
pended  by  manifestations  of  the  Divine  Power,  some 
degree  of  juggling  might  be  permitted  between  mor¬ 
tals  and  the  spirits  of  lesser  note  ;  in  which  case,  we 
must  suppose  that  the  woman  really  expected  or 
hoped  to  call  up  some  supernatural  appearance.  But 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  61 

in  either  case,  this  second  solution  of  the  story  sup¬ 
poses  that  the  will  of  the  Almighty  substituted,  on 
that  memorable  occasion,  for  the  phantasmagoria  in¬ 
tended  by  tne  witch,  the  spirit  of  Samuel,  in  his 
earthly  resemblance — or,  if  the  reader  may  think 
this  more  likely,  some  good  being,  the  messenger  of 
the  divine  pleasure,  in  the  likeness  of  the  departed 
prophet — and,  to  the  surprise  of  the  Pythoness  her¬ 
self,  exchanged  the  juggling  farce  of  sheer  deceit  oi 
petty  sorcery  which  she  had  intended  to  produce,  for 
a  deep  tragedy,  capable  of  appalling  the  heart  of  the 
hardened  tyrant,  and  furnishing  an  awful  lesson  to 
future  times. 

This  exposition  has  the  advantage  of  explaining 
the  surprise  expressed  by  the  witch  at  the  unexpect¬ 
ed  consequences  of  her  own  invocation,  while  it  re¬ 
moves  the  objection  of  supposing  the  spirit  of  Samuel 
subject  to  her  influence.  It  does  not  apply  so  well 
to  the  complaint  of  Samuel,  that  he  was  disquieted, 
since  neither  the  prophet,  nor  any  good  angel  wear¬ 
ing  his  likeness,  could  be  supposed  to  complain  of  an 
apparition  which  took  place  in  obedience  to  the  di¬ 
rect  command  of  the  Deity.  If,  however,  the  phrase 
is  understood,  not  as  a  murmuring  against  the  plea¬ 
sure  of  Providence,  but  as  a  reproach  to  the  prophet’s 
former  friend  Saul,  that  his  sins  and  discontents, 
which  were  the  ultimate  cause  of  Samuel’s  appear¬ 
ance,  had  withdrawn  the  prophet,  for  a  space,  from 
the  enjoyment  and  repose  of  heaven,  to  review  this 
miserable  spot  of  mortality,  guilt,  grief,  and  misfor¬ 
tune,  the  words  may,  according  to  that  interpreta¬ 
tion,  wear  no  stronger  sense  of  complaint  than  might 
become  the  spirit  of  a  just  man  made  perfect,  or  any 
benevolent  angel  by  whom  he  might  be  represented. 
It  may  be  obseived,  that,  in  Ecclesiasticus  xlvi.  19, 
20,  the  opinion  of  Samuel’s  actual  appearance  is 
adopted,  since  it  is  said  of  this  man  of  God,  that  after 
death  he  prophesied,  and  showed  the  king  his  latter  end. 

Leaving  the  farther  discussion  of  this  dark  and  dif 

F 


62 


LETTERS  ON 


ficult  question  to  those  whose  studies  have  qualified 
them  to  give  judgment  on  so  obscure  a  subject,  it  so 
far  appears  clear,  that  the  Witch  of  Endor  was  not  a 
being  such  as  those  believed  in  by  our  ancestors,  who 
could  transform  themselves  and  others  into  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  lower  animals ;  raise  and  allay  tem¬ 
pests,  frequent  the  company  and  join  the  revels  of 
evil  spirits,  and,  by  their  counsel  and  assistance,  de¬ 
stroy  human  lives ;  and  waste  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
or  perform  feats  of  such  magnitude  as  to  alter  the 
face  of  nature.  The  Witch  of  Endor  was  a  mere  for¬ 
tune-teller,  to  whom,  in  despair  of  all  aid  or  answer 
from  the  Almighty,  the  unfortunate  King  of  Israel  had 
recourse  in  his  despair,  and  by  whom,  in  some  way 
or  other,  he  obtained  the  awful  certainty  of  his  own 
defeat  and  death.  She  was  liable,  indeed,  deservedly, 
to  the  punishment  of  death,  for  intruding  herself 
upon  the  task  of'  the  real  prophets,  by  whom  the 
will  of  God  was,  in  that  time,  regularly  made  known. 
But  her  existence  and  her  crimes  can  go  no  length 
to  prove  the  possibility  that  another  class  of  witches, 
no  otherwise  resembling  her  than  as  called  by  the 
same  name,  either  existed  at  a  more  recent  period, 
or  were  liable  to  the  same  capital  punishment,  for  a 
very  different  and  much  more  doubtful  class  of  of¬ 
fences,  which,  however  odious,  are  nevertheless  to  be 
proved  possible  before  they  can  be  received  as  a  cri¬ 
minal  charge. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  other  occasional 
expressions  in  the  Old  Testament,  it  cannot  be 
said,  that  in  any  part  of  that  sacred  volume,  a  text 
occurs,  indicating  the  existence  of  a  system  of 
witchcraft,  under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  in  any 
respect  similar  to  that  against  which  the  law¬ 
books  of  so  many  European  nations  have,  till  very 
lately,  denounced  punishment;  far  less  under  the 
Christian  dispensation — a  system  under  which  the 
emancipation  of  the  human  race  from  the  Levi- 
tical  law  was  happily  and  miraculously  perfected 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


63 


This  latter  crime,  is  supposed  to  infer  a  compact 
implying  reverence  and  adoration  on  the  part  of  the 
witch  who  comes  under  the  fatal  bond,  and  patron¬ 
age,  support,  and  assistance  on  the  part  of  the  dia¬ 
bolical  patron.  Indeed,  in  the  four  Gospels,  the  word, 
under  any  sense,  does  not  occur ;  although,  had  the 
possibility  of  so  enormous  a  sin  been  admitted,  it  was 
not  likely  to  escape  the  warning  censure  of  the  Di¬ 
vine  Person  who  came  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the 
world.  Saint  Paul,  indeed,  mentions  the  sin  of  witch¬ 
craft  in  a  cursory  manner,  as  superior  in  guilt  to  that 
of  ingratitude ;  and  m  the  offences  of  the  flesh,  it  is 
ranked  immediately  after  idolatry;  which  juxtaposi¬ 
tion  inclines  us  to  believe  that  the  witchcraft  men¬ 
tioned  by  the  Apostle  must  have  been  analogous  to 
that  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  equivalent  to  resort¬ 
ing  to  the  assistance  of  soothsayers,  or  similar  for¬ 
bidden  arts,  to  acquire  knowledge  of  futurity.  Sor¬ 
cerers  are  also  joined  with  other  criminals,  in  the 
Book  of  Revelations,  as  excluded  from  the  city  of 
God.  And  with  these  occasional  notices,  which  in¬ 
dicate  that  there  was  a  transgression  so  called,  but 
leave  us  ignorant  of  its  exact  nature,  the  writers  upon 
witchcraft  attempt  to  wring  out  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  proofs  of  a  crime  in  itself  so  disgustingly  im¬ 
probable.  Neither  do  the  exploits  of  Elymas,  called 
the  Sorcerer,  or  Simon,  called  Magus,  or  the  Magi¬ 
cian,  entitle  them  to  rank  above  the  class  of  impos¬ 
tors,  who  assumed  a  character  to  which  they  had  no 
real  title,  and  put  their  own  mystical  and  ridiculous 
pretensions  to  supernatural  power  in  competition 
with  those  who  had  been  conferred  on  purpose  to 
diffuse  the  Gospel,  and  facilitate  its  reception  by  the 
exhibition  of  genuine  miracles.  It  is  clear  that,  from 
his  presumptuous  and  profane  proposal  to  acquire, 
by  purchase,  a  portion  of  those  powers  which  were 
directly  derived  from  inspiration,  Simon  Magus  dis¬ 
played  a  degree  of  profane  and  brutal  ignorance,  in¬ 
consistent  with  his  possessing  even  the  intelligence 


G4 


LETTERS  ON 


of  a  skilful  impostor ;  and  it  is  plain  that  a  leagued 
vassal  of  hell,  should  we  pronounce  him  such,  would 
have  better  known  his  own  rank  and  condition,  com¬ 
pared  to  that  of  the  Apostle,  than  to  have  made  such 
a  fruitless  and  unavailing  proposal,  by  which  he 
could  only  expose  his  own  impudence  and  ignorance. 

With  this  observation  we  may  conclude  our  brief 
remarks  upon  ■witchcraft ,  as  the  word  occurs  in  the 
Scripture  ;  and  it  now  only  remains  to  mention  the 
nature  of  the  demonology ,  which,  as  gathered  from 
the  sacred  volumes,  every  Christian  believer  is 
bound  to  receive  as  a  thing  declared  and  proved  to 
be  true. 

And  in  the  first  place,  no  man  can  read  the  Bible, 
or  call  himself  a  Christian,  without  believing  that, 
during  the  course  of  time  comprehended  by  the 
divine  writers,  the  Deity,  to  confirm  the  faith  of  the 
Jews,  and  to  overcome  and  confound  the  pride  of 
the  heathens,  wrought  in  the  land  many  great  mira¬ 
cles,  using  eithei  good  spirits,  the  instruments  of  his 
pleasure,  or  fallen  angels,  the  permitted  agents  of 
such  evil  as  it  was  his  will  should  be  inflicted  upon, 
or  suffered  by,  the  children  of  men.  This  proposi¬ 
tion  comprehends,  of  course,  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  truth  of  miracles  during  this  early  period,  by 
which  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature  were  occasionally 
suspended,  and  recognises  the  existence  in  the  spi¬ 
ritual  world  of  the  two  grand  divisions  of  angels  and 
devils,  severally  exercising  their  powers  according 
to  the  commission  or  permission  of  the  Ruler  of  the 
universe. 

Secondly,  wise  men  have  thought  and  argued,  that 
the  idols  of  the  heathen  were  actually  fiends,  or 
rather,  that  these  enemies  of  mankind  had  power  to 
assume  the  shape  and  appearance  of  those  feeble 
deities,  and  to  give  a  certain  degree  of  countenance 
to  the  faith  of  the  worshippers,  by  working  seeming 
miracles,  and  returning,  by  their  priests  or  their  ora¬ 
cles.  responses  which  “  palter’d  in  a  double  sense” 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  65 

with  the  deluded  persons  who  consulted  them. 
Most  of  the  fathers  of  the  Christian  church  have  inti¬ 
mated  such  an  opinion.  This  doctrine  has  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  affording,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  confirma¬ 
tion  of  many  miracles  related  in  pagan  or  classical 
history,  which  are  thus  ascribed  to  the  agency  of 
evil  spirits.  It  corresponds  also  with  the  texts  of 
Scripture,  which  declare  that  the  gods  of  the  heathen 
are  all  devils  and  evil  spirits ;  and  the  idols  of  Egypt 
are  classed,  as  in  Isaiah,  chap.  xix.  ver.  2,  with 
charmers,  those  who  have  familiar  spirits,  and  with 
wizards.  But  whatever  license  it  may  be  supposed 
was  permitted  to  the  evil  spirits  of  that  period, — and 
although,  undoubtedly,  men  owned  the  sway  of  dei¬ 
ties  who  were,  in  fact,  but  personifications  of  certain 
evil  passions  of  humanity,  as,  for  example,  in  their 
sacrifices  to  Venus,  to  Bacchus,  to  Mars,  &c.,  and 
therefore,  might  be  said,  in  one  sense,  to  worship 
evil  spirits — we  cannot,  in  reason,  suppose  that  every 
one,  or  the  thousandth  part  of  the  innumerable  idols 
worshipped  among  the  heathen,  was  endowed  with 
supernatural  power ;  it  is  clear  that  the  greater  num¬ 
ber  fell  under  the  description  applied  to  them  in 
another  passage  of  Scripture,  in  which  the  part  of 
the  tree  burned  in  the  fire  for  domestic  purposes  is 
treated  as  of  the  same  power  and  estimation,  as  that 
carved  into  an  image,  and  preferred  for  Gentile 
homage.  This  striking  passage,  in  which  the  impo¬ 
tence  of  the  senseless  block,  and  the  brutish  igno¬ 
rance  of  the  worshipper,  whose  object  of  adoration 
is  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  occurs  in  the  44th 
chapter  of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  verse  10,  et  seq. 
The  precise  words  of  the  text,  as  well  as  common 
sense,  forbid  us  to  believe  that  the  images  so  con¬ 
structed  by  common  artisans,  became  the  habitation 
or  resting-place  of  demons,  or  possessed  any  mani¬ 
festation  of  strength  or  power,  whether  through  de¬ 
moniacal  influence  or  otherwise.  The  whole  system 
of  doubt,  delusion,  and  trick  exhibited  by  the  oracles, 

F  2 


66 


LETTERS  ON 


savours  of  the  mean  juggling  of  impostors,  rather 
than  the  audacious  intervention  of  demons.  What¬ 
ever  degree  of  power  the  false  gods  of  heathendom, 
or  devils  in  their  name,  might  be  permitted  occasion  • 
ally  to  exert,  was,  unquestionably,  under  the  general 
restraint  and  limitation  of  Providence ;  and  though, 
on  the  one  hand,  we  cannot  deny  the  possibility  of 
such  permission  being  granted,  in  cases  unknown  to 
us,  it  is  certain,  on  the  other,  that  the  Scriptures 
mention  no  one  specific  instance  of  such  influence, 
expressly  recommended  to  our  belief. 

Thirdly,  as  the  backsliders  among  the  Jews  repeat¬ 
edly  fell  off  to  the  worship  of  the  idols  of  the  neigh¬ 
bouring  heathens,  so  they  also  resorted  to  the  use  of 
charms  and  enchantments,  founded  on  a  superstitious 
perversion  of  their  own  Levitical  .ritual,  in  which 
they  endeavoured  by  sortilege,  by  Teraphim,  by  ob¬ 
servation  of  augury,  or  the  flight  of  birds,  which  they 
called  JVahas,  by  the  means  of  Urim  and  Thummim, 
to  find,  as  it  were,  a  by-road  to  the  secrets  of  futurity : 
But  for  the  same  reason  that  withholds  us  from  de¬ 
livering  any  opinion  upon  the  degree  to  which  the 
Devil  and  his  angels  might  be  allowed  to  countenance 
the  impositions  of  the  heathen  priesthood,  it  is  im¬ 
possible  for  us  conclusively  to  pronounce  what  effect 
might  be  permitted  by  supreme  Providence,  to  the 
ministry  of  such  evil  spirits  as  presided  over  and,  so 
far  as  they  had  liberty,  directed  these  sinful  inqui¬ 
ries  among  the  Jews  themselves.  We  are  indeed 
assured  from  the  sacred  writings,  that  the  promise 
of  the  Deity  to  his  chosen  people,  if  they  conducted 
themselves  agreeably  to  the  law  which  he  had  given, 
was,  that  the  communication  with  the  invisible 
world  would  be  enlarged,  so  that  in  the  fulness  of 
his  time,  he  would  pour  out  his  spirit  upon  all  flesh, 
when  their  sons  and  daughters  should  prophesy,  their 
old  men  see  visions,  and  their  young  men  dream 
dreams.  Such  were  the  promises  delivered  to  the 
Israelites  by  Joel,  Ezekiel,  and  other  holy  seers,  of 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


67 


which  St.  Peter,  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  hails  the  fulfilment  in  the  mission 
of  our  Saviour.  And  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  less 
evident  that  the  Almighty,  to  punish  the  disobedience 
of  the  Jews,  abandoned  them  to  their  own  fallacious 
desires,  and  suffered  them  to  be  deceived  by  the  lying 
oracles,  to  which,  in  flagrant  violation  of  his  com¬ 
mands,  they  had  recourse.  Of  this,  the  punishment 
arising  from  the  Deity  abandoning  Ahab  to  his  own 
devices,  and  suffering  him  to  be  deceived  by  a  lying 
spirit,  forms  a  striking  instance. 

Fourthly,  and  on  the  other  hand,  abstaining  with 
reverence  from  accounting  ourselves  judges  of  the 
actions  of  Omnipotence,  we  may  safely  conclude, 
that  it  was  not  his  pleasure  to  employ  in  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  his  judgments,  the  consequences  of  any  such 
species  of  league  or  compact  between  devils  and  de¬ 
luded  mortals,  as  that  denounced  in  the  laws  of  our 
own  ancestors  under  the  name  of  witchcraft.  What 
has  been  translated  by  that  word,  seems  little  more 
than  the  art  of  a  medicator  of  poisons,  combined 
with  that  of  a  Pythoness  or  false  prophetess ;  a  crime, 
however,  of  a  capital  nature,  by  the  Levitical  law, 
since,  in  the  first  capacity,  it  implied  great  enmity  to 
mankind,  and  in  the  second,  direct  treason  to  the 
divine  Legislator.  The  book  of  Tobit  contains,  in¬ 
deed,  a  passage  resembling  more  an  incident  in  an 
Arabian  tale,  or  Gothic  romance,  than  a  part  of  in¬ 
spired  writing.  In  this,  the  fumes  produced  by  broil¬ 
ing  the  liver  of  a  certain  fish  are  described  as  having 
power  to  drive  away  an  evil  genius  who .  guards  the 
nuptial  chamber  of  an  Assyrian  princess,  and  who 
has  strangled  seven  bridegrooms  in  succession,  as 
they  approached  the  nuptial  couch.  But  the  ro¬ 
mantic  and  fabulous  strain  of  this  legend  has  induced 
the  fathers  of  all  Protestant  churches  to  deny  it  a 
place  among  the  writings  sanctioned  by  divine  origin, 
and  we  may,  therefore,  be  excused  from  entering 
into  discussion  on  such  imperfect  evidence. 


68 


LETTERS  ON 


Lastly,  in  considering  the  incalculable  change 
which  took  place  upon  the  advent  of  our  Saviour  and 
the  announcement  of  his  law,  we  may  observe, 
that  according  to  many  wise  and  learned  men,  his 
mere  appearance  upon  earth,  without  awaiting  the 
fulfilment  of  his  mission,  operated  as  an  act  of  banish¬ 
ment  of  such  heathen  deities  as  had  hitherto  been 
suffered  to  deliver  oracles,  and  ape  in  some  degree 
the  attributes  of  the  Deity.  Milton  has,  in  the  Para¬ 
dise  Lost,  it  may  be  upon  conviction  of  its  truth, 
embraced  the  theory  which  identifies  the  followers 
of  Satan  with  the  gods  of  the  heathen ;  and,  in  a 
tone  of  poetry  almost  unequalled,  even  in  his  own 
splendid  writings,  he  thus  describes,  in  one  of  his 
earlier  pieces,  the  departure  of  these  pretended  dei* 
ies  on  the  eve  of  the  blessed  Nativity. 

“  The  oracles  are  dumb, 

No  voice  or  hideous  hum 

Runs  through  the  arched  roof  in  words  deceiving, 

Apollo  from  his  shrine 
Can  no  more  divine, 

With  hollow  shriek  the  steep  of  Delphos  leaving; 

No  nightly  trance  or  breathed  spell 

Inspires  the  pale-eyed  priest  from  the  prophetic  cell 

“  The  lonely  mountains  o’er, 

And  the  resounding  shore, 

A  voice  of  weeping  heard  and  loud  lament ; 

From  haunted  spring  and  dale, 

Edged  with  poplar  pale, 

The  parting  Genius  is  with  sighing  sent; 

With  flower-inwoven  tresses  torn, 

The  Nymphs  in  twilight  shade  of  tangled  thickets  mourn 

“In  consecrated  earth, 

And  on  the  holy  hearth, 

The  Lars  and  Lemures  moan  with  midnight  plaint; 

In  urns  and  altars  round, 

A  drear  and  dying  sound 
Affrights  the  Fiamens  at  their  service  quaint ; 

And  the  chill  marble  seems  to  sweat, 

While  each  peculiar  Power  foregoes  his  wonted  seat. 

“Peor  and  Baalim 
Forsake  their  temples  dim, 

With  that  twice-battei’d  god  of  Palestine ; 

And  mooned  Ashtaroth, 

Heaven’s  queen  and  mother  both, 

Now  sits  not  girt  with  tapers’  holy  shine ; 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


69 


The  Lybic  Hammon  shrinks  his  horn  ; 

In  vain  the  Tyrian  maids  their  wounded  Thamuz  mourn. 

“  And  sullen  Moloch,  fled, 

Hath  left  in  shadows  dread 
His  burning  idol  all  of  darkest  hue  ; 

In  vain  with  cymbals’  ring, 

They  call  the  grisly  king, 

In  dismal  dance  about  the  furnace  blue  ; 

The  brutish  gods  of  Nile  as  fast, 

Isis  and  Orus,  and  the  Dog  Anubis,  haste.” 


The  quotation  is  a  long  one,  but  it  is  scarcely  pos¬ 
sible  to  shorten  what  is  so  beautiful  and  interesting 
a  description  of  the  heathen  deities,  whether  in  the 
classic  personifications  of  Greece,  the  horrible  shapes 
Worshipped  by  mere  barbarians,  or  the  hieroglyphical 
enormities  of  the  Egyptian  mythology.  The  idea 
of  identifying  the  pagan  deities,  especially  the  most 
distinguished  of  them,  with  the  manifestation  of 
demoniac  power,  and  concluding  that  the  descent  of 
our  Saviour  struck  them  with  silence,  so  nobly  ex¬ 
pressed  in  the  poetry  of  Milton,  is  not  certainly  to  be 
lightly  rejected.  It  has  been  asserted,  in  simple 
prose,  by  authorities  of  no  mean  weight :  nor  does 
there  appear  any  thing  inconsistent  in  the  faith  of 
those  who,  believing  that,  in  the  elder  time,  fiends 
and  demons  were  permitted  an  enlarged  degree  of 
power  in  uttering  predictions,  may  also  give  credit  to 
the  proposition,  that  at  the  Divine  advent  that  power 
was  restrained,  the  oracles  silenced,  and  those  de¬ 
mons  who  had  aped  the  Divinity  of  the  place  were 
driven  from  their  abode  on  earth,  honoured  as  it  was 
by  a  guest  so  awful. 

It  must  be  noticed,  however,  that  this  great  event 
had  not  the  same  effect  on  that  peculiar  class  of  fiends 
who  were  permitted  to  vex  mortals  by  the  alienation 
of  their  minds,  and  the  abuse  of  their  persons,  in 
the  cases  of  what  is  called  demoniacal  possession. 
In  what  exact  sense  we  should  understand  this  word 
possession,  it  is  impossible  to  discover :  but  we  feel  it 


70 


LETTERS  ON 


impossible  to  doubt  (notwithstanding learned  authori¬ 
ties  to  the  contrary),  that  it  was  a  dreadful  disorder, 
of  a  kind  not  merely  natural;  and  may  be  pretty 
well  assured  that  it  was  suffered  to  continue  after 
the  incarnation,  because  the  miracles  effected  by  our 
Saviour  and  his  apostles,  in  curing  those  tormented 
in  this  way,  afforded  the  most  direct  proofs  of  his 
divine  mission,  even  out  of  the  very  mouths  of  those 
ejected  fiends,  the  most  malignant  enemies  of  a  power 
to  which  they  dared  not  refuse  homage  and  obe¬ 
dience.  And  here  is  an  additional  proof,  that  witch¬ 
craft,  in  its  ordinary  and  popular  sense,  was  unknown 
at  that  period :  although  cases  of  possession  are  re¬ 
peatedly  mentioned  in  the  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  yet  in  no  one  instance  do  the  devils  ejected 
mention  a  witch  or  sorcerer,  or  plead  the  commands 
of  such  a  person,  as  the  cause  of  occupying  or  tor¬ 
menting  the  victim; — whereas,  in  a  great  proportion 
of  those  melancholy  cases  of  witchcraft  with  which 
the  records  of  later  times  abound,  the  stress  of  the 
evidence  is  rested  on  the  declaration  of  the  possessed, 
or  the  demon  within  him,  that  some  old  man  or  wo¬ 
man  in  the  neighbourhood  had  compelled  the  fiend 
to  be  the  instrument  of  evil. 

It  must  also  be  admitted,  that  in  another  most 
remarkable  respect,  the  power  of  the  Enemy  of  man¬ 
kind  was  rather  enlarged  than  bridled  or  restrained, 
in  consequence  of  the  Saviour  coming  upon  earth.  It 
is  indisputable,  that  in  order  that  Jesus  might  have  his 
share  in  every  species  of  delusion  and  persecution 
which  the  fallen  race  of  Adam  is  heir  to,  he  personally 
suffered  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness  at  the  hand 
of  Satan,  whom,  without  resorting  to  his  divine  power, 
he  drove,  confuted,  silenced,  and  shamed,  from  his 
presence.  But  it  appears,  that  although  Satan  was 
allowed  upon  this  memorable  occasion  to  come  on 
earth  with  great  power,  the  permission  was  given 
expressly  because  his  time  was  short. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


71 


The  indulgence  which  was  then  granted  to  him  in 
a  case  so  unique  and  peculiar  soon  passed  over,  and 
was  utterly  restrained.  It  is  evident,  that  after  the 
lapse  of  the  period  during  which  it  pleased  the 
Almighty  to  establish  Ills  own  Church  by  miraculous 
displays  of  power,  it  could  not  consist  with  his  kind¬ 
ness  and  wisdom,  to  leave  the  enemy  in  the  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  privilege  of  deluding  men  by  imaginary 
miracles  calculated  for  the  perversion  of  that  faith, 
which  real  miracles  were  no  longer  present  to  sup¬ 
port.  There  would,  we  presume  to  say,  be  a  shocking 
inconsistency  in  supposing,  that  false  and  deceitful 
prophecies  and  portents  should  be  freely  circulated 
by  any  demoniacal  influence,  deceiving  men’s  bodily 
organs,  abusing  their  minds,  and  perverting  their  faith, 
while  the  true  religion  was  left  by  its  great  Author 
devoid  of  every  supernatural  sign  and  token,  which, 
in  the  time  of  its  Founder  and  his  immediate  disci¬ 
ples,  attested  and  celebrated  their  -inappreciable 
mission.  Such  a  permission  on  the  part  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  would  be  (to  speak  under  the  deepest 
reverence)  an  abandonment  of  his  chosen  people, 
ransomed  at  such  a  price,  to  the  snares  of  an  enemy, 
from  whom  the  worst  evils  were  to  be  apprehended. 
Nor  would  it  consist  with  the  remarkable  promise  in 
Holy  Writ,  that  “  God  will  not  suffer  his  people  to  be 
tempted  above  what  they  are  able  to  bear.”  1  Cor.  x.  13. 
The  Fathers  of  the  Faith  are  not  strictly  agreed  at 
what  period  the  miraculous  power  was  withdrawn 
from  the  Church ;  but  few  Protestants  are  disposed 
to  bring  it  down  beneath  the  accession  of  Constantine, 
when  the  Christian  religion  was  fully  established  in 
supremacy.  The  Roman  Catholics,  indeed,  boldly 
affirm,  that  the  power  of  miraculous  interference  with 
the  course  of  nature  is  still  in  being ;  but  the  enlight¬ 
ened  even  of  this  faith,  though  they  dare  not  deny  a 
fundamental  tenet  of  their  Church,  will  hardly  assent 
to  any  particular  case,  without  nearly  the  same  evi¬ 
dence  which  might  conquer  the  incredulity  of  their 


72 


LETTERS  ON 


neighbours  the  Protestants.  It  is  alike  inconsistent 
with  the  common  sense  of  either,  that  fiends  should 
be  permitted  to  work  marvels  which  are  no  longer 
exhibited  on  the  part  of  Heaven,  or  in  behalf  of 
religion. 

It  will  be  observed  that  we  have  not  been  anxious 
to  decide  upon  the  limits  of  probability  on  this  ques¬ 
tion.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  ascertain  in  what 
degree  the  power  of  Satan  Avas  at  liberty  to  display 
itself  during  the  Jewish  dispensation,  or  down  to 
what  precise  period  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  cures  of  demoniacal  possession,  or  similar 
displays  of  miraculous  power,  may  have  occurred. 
We  have  avoided  controversy  on  that  head,  because 
it  comprehends  questions  not  more  doubtful  than 
unedifying.  Little  benefit  could  arise  from  attaining 
the  exact  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
apostate  Jews  practised  unlawful  charms  or  auguries 
After  their  conquest  and  dispersion,  they  Avere  re¬ 
marked  among  the  Romans  for  such  superstitious 
practices ;  and  the  like,  for  what  we  know,  may  con¬ 
tinue  to  linger  about  the  benighted  Avanderers  of 
their  race  at  the  present  day.  But  all  these  things 
are  extraneous  to  our  inquiry,  the  purpose  of  which 
was  to  discover  Avhether  any  real  evidence  could  be 
derived  from  sacred  history,  to  prove  the  early  exist¬ 
ence  of  that  branch  of  demonology  Avhich  has  been 
the  object,  in  comparatively  modern  times,  of  crimi¬ 
nal  prosecution  and  capital  punishment.  We  have 
already  alluded  to  this  as  the  contract  of  Avitchcraft, 
in  which,  as  the  term  was  understood  in  the  middle 
ages,  the  demon  and  the  witch  or  wizard  combined 
their  various  powers  of  doing  harm  to  inflict  calami¬ 
ties  upon  the  person  and  property,  the  fortune  and 
the  fame  of  innocent  human  beings ;  imposing  the 
most  horrible  diseases,  and  death  itself,  as  marks  of 
their  slightest  ill-will ;  transforming  their  own  per¬ 
sons  and  those  of  others  at  their  pleasure ;  raising 
tempests  to  ravage  the  crops  of  their  enemies,  or 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  73 

carrying  them  home  to  their  own  gamers  ;  annihi¬ 
lating  or  transferring  to  their  own  dairies  the  produce 
of  herds;  spreading  pestilence  among  cattle,  infecting 
and  blighting  children  ;  and,  in  a  word,  doing  more 
evil  than  the  heart  of  man  might  be  supposed  capable 
of  conceiving,  by  means  far  beyond  mere  human 
power  to  accomplish.  If  it  could  be  supposed  that 
such  unnatural  leagues  existed,  and  that  there  were 
wretches  wicked  enough,  merely  for  the  gratification 
of  malignant  spite  or  the  enjoyment  of  some  beastly 
revelry,  to  become  the  wretched  slaves  of  infernal 
spirits,  most  just  and  equitable  would  be  those  laws 
which  cut  them  off  from  the  midst  of  every  Christian 
commonwealth.  But  it  is  still  more  just  and  equita¬ 
ble,  before  punishment  be  inflicted  for  any  crime,  to 
prove  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  that  crime  being 
committed.  We  have,  therefore,  advanced  an  impor¬ 
tant  step  in  our  inquiry,  when  we  have  ascertained 
that  the  witch  of  the  Old  Testament  was  not  capable 
of  any  thing  beyond  the  administration  of  baleful 
drugs,  or  the  practising  of  paltry  imposture,  in  other 
words,  that  she  did  not  hold  the  character  ascribed 
to  a  modem  sorceress.  We  have  thus  removed  out 
of  the  argument  the  startling  objection,  that,  in  deny¬ 
ing  the  existence  .of  witchcraft,  we  deny  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  a  crime  which  was  declared  capital  in  the 
Mosaic  law  ;  and  are  left  at  full  liberty  to  adopt  the 
opinion,  that  the  more  modern  system  of  witchcraft 
was  a  part,  and  by  no  means  the  least  gross,  of  that 
mass  of  errors  which  appeared  among  the  members 
of  the  Christian  Church,  when  their  religion,  becom¬ 
ing  gradually  corrupted  by  the  devices  of  men,  and 
the  barbarism  of  those  nations  among  whom  it  was 
spread,  showed  a  light,  indeed,  but  one  deeply  tinged 
with  the  remains  of  that  very  pagan  ignorance  which 
its  divine  Founder  came  to  dispel. 

We  will,  in  a  future  part  of  this  inquiry,  endea¬ 
vour  to  show  that  many  of  the  particular  articles  of 
the  popular  belief  respecting  magic  and  witchcraft 

G 


74 


LETTERS  ON 


were  derived  from  the  opinions  which  the  ancient 
heathens  entertained  as  part  of  their  religion.  To 
recommend  them,  however,  they  had  principles 
lying  deep  in  the  human  mind  and  heart  of  all  times  ; 
the  tendency  to  belief  in  supernatural  agencies  is 
natural,  and  indeed  seems  connected  with,  and 
deduced  from,  the  invaluable  conviction  of  the  cer¬ 
tainty  of  a  future  state.  Moreover,  it  is  very  possible 
that  particular  stories  of  this  class  may  have  seemed 
undeniable  in  the  dark  ages,  though  our  better 
instructed  period  can  explain  them  in  a  satisfactory 
manner,  by  the  excited  temperament  of  spectators, 
or  the  influence  of  delusions  produced  by  derange¬ 
ment  of  the  intellect,  or  imperfect  leports  of  the 
external  senses.  They  obtained,  however,  universal 
faith  and  credit ;  and  the  churchmen,  either  from 
craft  or  from  ignorance,  favoured  the  progress  of  a 
belief  which  certainly  contributed,  in  a  most  power¬ 
ful  manner,  to  extend  their  own  authority  over  the 
human  mind. 

To  pass  from  the  pagans'of  antiquity — the  Mahom- 
medans,  though  their  profession  of  faith  is  exclu¬ 
sively  Unitarian,  were  accounted  worshippers  of  evil 
spirits,  who  were  supposed  to  aid  them  in  their  con¬ 
tinual  warfare  against  the  Christians,  or  to  protect 
and  defend  them  in  the  Holy  Land,  where  their  abode 
gave  so  much  scandal  and  offence  to  the  devout. 
Romance,  and  even  history,  combined  in  represent¬ 
ing  all  who  were  out  of  the  pale  of  the  Church  as  the 
personal  vassals  of  Satan,  who  played  his  decep¬ 
tions  openly  among  them ;  and  Mahound,  Terma- 
gaunt,  and  Apollo  were,  in  the  opinion  of  the  West¬ 
ern  Crusaders,  only  so  many  names  of  the  arch¬ 
fiend  and  his  principal  angels.  The  most  enormous 
fictions,  spread  abroad  and  believed  through  Chris¬ 
tendom,  attested  the  fact,  that  there  were  open  dis¬ 
plays  of  supernatural  aid  afforded  by  the  evil  spirits 
to  the  Turks  and  Saracens;  and  fictitious  reports 
were  not  less  liberal  in  assigning  to  the  Christians 
extraordinary  means  of  defence  through  the  direct 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  75 

protection  of  blessed  saints  and  angels,  or  of  holy 
men,  yet  in  the  flesh,  but  already  anticipating  the 
privileges  proper  to  a  state  of  beatitude  and  glory, 
and  possessing  the  power  to  work  miracles. 

To  show  the  extreme  grossness  of  these  legends, 
we  may  give  an  example  from  the  romance  of 
Richard  Cosur  de  Lion,  premising,  at  the  same  time* 
that,  like  other  romances,  it  was  written  in  what  the 
author  designed  to  be  the  style  of  true  history,  and 
was  addressed  to  hearers  and  readers,  not  as  a  tale 
of  fiction,  but  a  real  narrative  of  facts,  so  that  the 
legend  is  a  proof  of  what  the  age  esteemed  credible, 
and  were  disposed  to  believe,  as  much  as  if  it  had  been 
extracted  from  a  graver  chronicle. 

The  renowned  Saladin,  it  is  said,  had  despatched 
an  embassy  to  King  Richard,  with  the  present  of  a 
colt,  recommended  as  a  gallant  war-horse,  challenging 
Coeur  de  Lion  to  meet  him  in  single  combat  between 
the  armies,  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  at  once  their 
pretensions  to  the  land  of  Palestine,  and  the  theolo¬ 
gical  question,  whether  the  God  of  the  Christians, 
or  Jupiter,  the  deity  of  the  Saracens,  should  be  the 
future  object  of  adoration  by  the  subjects  of  both 
monarchs.  Now,  under  this  seemingly  chivalrous 
defiance  was  concealed  a  most  unknightly  stratagem, 
and  which  we  may,  at  the  same  time,  call  a  very 
clumsy  trick  for  the  Devil  to  be  concerned  in.  A 
Saracen  clerk  had  conjured  two  devils  into  a  mare 
and  her  colt,  with  the  instruction,  that  whenever  the 
mare  neighed,  the  foal,  which  was  a  brute  of  uncom¬ 
mon  size,  should  kneel  down  to  suck  his  dam.  The 
enchanted  foal  was  sent  to  King  Richard,  in  the  be¬ 
lief  that,  the  foal  obeying  the  signal  of  its  dam  as 
usual,  the  Soldan,  who  mounted  the  mare,  might  get 
an  easy  advantage  over  him. 

But  the  English  king  was  warned  by  an  angel  in  a 
dream  of  the  intended  stratagem,  and  the  colt  was, 
by  the  celestial  mandate,  previously  to  the  combat, 
conjured  in  the  holy  name,  to  be  obedient  to  his  rider 


70 


LETTERS  ON 


during  the  encounter.  The  fiend-horse  intimated  his 
submission  by  drooping  his  head,  but  his  word  was 
not  entirely  credited.  His  ears  were  stopped  with 
wax.  In  this  condition,  Richard,  armed  at  all  points, 
and  with  various  marks  of  his  religious  faith  displayed 
on  his  weapons,  rode  forth  to  meet  Saladin,  and  the 
Soldan,  confident  of  his  stratagem,  encountered  him 
boldly.  The  mare  neighed  till  she  shook  the  ground 
for  miles  around.  But  the  sucking  devil,  whom  the 
wax  prevented  from  hearing  the  summons,  could  not 
obey  the  signal.  Saladin  was  dismounted,  and  nar¬ 
rowly  escaped  death,  while  his  army  were  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  Christians.  It  is  but  an  awkward  tale 
of  wonder,  where  a  demon  is  worsted  by  a  trick  which 
could  hardly  have  cheated  a  common  horse-jockey; 
but  by  such  legends  our  ancestors  were  amused  and 
interested,  till  their  belief  respecting  the  demons  of 
the  Holy  Land  seems  to  have  been  not  very  far  different 
from  that  expressed  in  the  title  of  Ben  Jonson’s  play, 
“  The  Devil  is  an  Ass.” 

One  of  the  earliest  maps  ever  published,  which  ap¬ 
peared  at  Rome  in  the  16th  century,  intimates  a  simi¬ 
lar  belief  in  the  connexion  of  the  heathen  nations  of 
the  north  of  Europe  with  the  demons  of  the  spiritual 
world.  In  Esthonia,  Lithuania,  Courland,  and  such 
districts,  the  chart,  for  want,  it  may  be  supposed,  of 
an  accurate  account  of  the  country,  exhibits  rude 
cuts  of  the  fur-clad  natives  paying  homage  at  the 
shrines  of  demons,  who  make  themselves  visibly  pre¬ 
sent  to  them;  while  at  other  places  they  are  dis¬ 
played  as  doing  battle  with  the  Teutonic  knights,  or 
other  military  associations  formed  for  the  conversion 
or  expulsion  of  the  heathens  in  these  parts.  Amid 
the  pagans,  armed  with  cimeters,  and  dressed  in  caf¬ 
tans,  the  fiends  are  painted  as  assisting  them,  por¬ 
trayed  in  all  the  modern  horrors  of  the  cloven-foot, 
or,  as  the  Germans  term  it,  horse’s-foot,  foil -wings, 
saucer-eyes,  locks  like  serpents,  and  tail  like  a  dra¬ 
gon.  These  attributes,  it  may  be  cursorily  noticed, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


77 


themselves  intimate  the  connexion  of  modern  demon¬ 
ology  with  the  mythology  of  the  ancients.  The 
cloven  foot  is  the  attribute  of  Pan,  to  whose  talents 
for  inspiring  terror  we  owe  the  word  panic — the  snaky 
tresses  are  borrowed  from  the  shield  of  Minerva,  and 
the  dragon  train  alone  seems  to  be  connected  with 
the  Scriptural  history.* 

Other  heathen  nations,  whose  creeds  could  not  have 
directly  contributed  to  the  system  of  demonology, 
because  their  manners  and  even  their  very  existence 
was  unknown  when  it  was  adopted,  were  nevertheless 
involved,  so  soon  as  Europeans  became  acquainted 
with  them,  in  the  same  charge  of  witchcraft  and 
worship  of  demons,  brought  by  the  Christians  of  the 
middle  ages  against  the  heathens  of  Northern  Europe 
and  the  Mahommedans  of  the  East.  We  learn  from 
the  information  of  a  Portuguese  voyager,  that  even 
the  native  Christians  (called  those  of  St.  Thomas), 
whom  the  discoverers  found  in  India  when  they  first 
arrived  there,  fell  under  suspicion  of  diabolical  prac 
tices.  It  was  almost  in  vain  that  the  priests  of  one 
of  their  chapels  produced  to  the  Portuguese  officers 
and  soldiers  a  holy  image,  and  called  on  them,  as  good 
Christians,  to  adore  the  blessed  Virgin.  The  sculp¬ 
tor  had  been  so  little  acquainted  with  his  art,  and  the 
hideous  form  which  he  had  produced  resembled  an 
inhabitant  of  the  infernal  regions  so  much  more  than 
Our  Lady  of  Grace,  that  one  of  the  European  offi¬ 
cers,  while,  like  his  companions,  he  dropped  on  his 
knees,  added  the  loud  protest,  that  if  the  image  re¬ 
presented  the  Devil,  he  paid  his  homage  to  the  Holy 
Virgin. 

In  South  America  the  Spaniards  justified  the  unre¬ 
lenting  cruelties  exercised  on  the  unhappy  natives, 
by  reiterating  in  all  their  accounts  of  the  countries 

*  The  chart  alluded  to  is  one  of  the  facsimiles  of  an  ancient  plani¬ 
sphere,  eneraved  in  bronze,  about  the  end  of  the  15th  century,  and  called 
the  Borgian  Table,  from  its  possessor.  Cardinal  Stephen  Borgia,  and 
preserved  in  his  Museum  at  Veletri. 

G  2 


78 


LETTERS  ON 


which  they  discovered  and  conquered,  that  the 
Indians,  in  their  idol-worship,  were  favoured  by  the 
demons  with  a  direct  intercourse,  and  that  their 
priests  inculcated  doctrines  and  rites  the  foulest  and 
most  abhorrent  to  Christian  ears.  The  great  Snake- 
god  of  Mexico  and  other  idols,  worshipped  with  hu¬ 
man  sacrifices,  and  bathed  in  the  gore  of  their  pri¬ 
soners,  gave  but  too  much  probability  to  this  accu¬ 
sation  ;  and  if  the  images  themselves  were  not  ac¬ 
tually  tenanted  by  evil  spirits,  the  worship  which  the 
Mexicans  paid  to  them  was  founded  upon  such  deadly 
cruelty  and  dark  superstition,  as  might  easily  be  be¬ 
lieved  to  have  been  breathed  into  mortals  by  the 
agency  of  hell. 

Even  in  North  America,  the  first  settlers  in  New- 
England,  and  other  parts  of  that  immense  continent, 
uniformly  agreed  that  they  detected,  among  the  inha¬ 
bitants,  traces  of  an  intimate  connexion  with  Satan. 
It  is  scarce  necessary  to  remark,  that  this  opinion  was 
founded  exclusively  upon  the  tricks  practised  by  the 
native  powahs,  or  cunning  men,  to  raise  themselves 
to  influence  among  the  chiefs,  and  to  obtain  esteem 
with  the  people,  which,  possessed  as  they  were  pro¬ 
fessionally  of  some  skill  in  jugglery,  and  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  some  medical  herbs  and  secrets,  the  under¬ 
standing  of  the  colonists  was  unable  to  trace  to  their 
real  source — legerdemain  and  imposture.  By  the 
account,  however,  of  the  Reverend  Cotton  Mather, 
in  his  Magnalia,  book  vi.,*  he  does  not  ascribe  to  these 
Indian  conjurers  any  skill  greatly  superior  to  a  maker 
of  almanacs,  or  common  fortune-teller.  “  They,” 
says  the  Doctor,  “universally  acknowledged  and 
worshipped  many  gods,  and  therefore  highly 
esteemed  and  reverenced  their  priests,  powahs,  or 
wizards,  who  were  esteemed  as  having  immediate 
converse  with  the  gods.  To  them,  therefore,  they 
addressed  themselves  in  all  difficult  cases ;  yet  could 


*  On  Remarkable  Mercies  of  Divine  Providence 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  79 

not  all  that  desired  that  dignity,  as  they  esteemed  it, 
obtain  familiarity  with  the  infernal  spirits.  Nor 
were  all  powahs  alike  successful  in  their  addresses ; 
but  they  became  such,  either  by  immediate  revelation, 
or  in  the  use  of  certain  rites  and  ceremonies,  which 
tradition  had  left  as  conducing  to  that  end.  Inso¬ 
much,  that  parents,  out  of  zeal,  often  dedicated  their 
children  to  the  gods,  and  educated  them  accordingly, 
observing  a  certain  diet,  debarring  sleep,  &c. :  yet 
of  the  many  designed,  but  few  obtained  their  desire. 
Supposing  that  where  the  practice  of  witchcraft  has 
been  highly  esteemed,  there  must  be  given  the 
plainest  demonstration  of  mortals  having  familiarity 
with  infernal  spirits,  I  am  willing  to  let  my  reader 
know,  that,  not  many  years  since,  there  died  one  of  the 
powahs,  who  never  pretended  to  astrological  know¬ 
ledge,  yet  could  precisely  inform  such  who  desired 
his  assistance,  from  whence  goods  stolen  from  them 
were  gone,  and  whither  carried,  with  many  things 
of  the  like  nature ;  nor  was  he  ever  known  to  endea¬ 
vour  to  conceal  his  knowledge  to  be  immediately  from 
a  god  subservient  to  him  that  the  English  worship.  This 
powah  being,  by  an  Englishman  worthy  of  credit  (who 
lately  informed  me  of  the  same),  desired  to  advise 
him  who  had  taken  certain  goods  which  had  been 
stolen,  having  formerly  been  an  eye-witness  of  his 
ability,  the  powah,  after  a  little  pausing,  demanded 
why  he  requested  that  from  him,  since  himself  served 
another  God  ?  that  therefore  he  could  not  help  him  ; 
but  added,  ‘  If  you  can  believe  that  my  god  may  help 
you,  I  will  try  what  I  can  do which  diverted  the 
man  from  farther  inquiry.  I  must  a  little  digress, 
and  tell  my  reader,  that  this  powah’s  wife  was  ac¬ 
counted  a  godly  woman,  and  lived  in  the  practice 
and  profession  of  the  Christian  religion,  not  only  by 
the  approbation  but  encouragement  of  her  husband. 
She  constantly  prayed  in  the  family,  and  attended  the 
public  worship  on  the  Lord’s  days.  He  declared  that 
he  could  not  blame  her,  for  that  she  served  a  god  that 


80 


LETTERS  ON 


was  above  his ;  blit  that,  as  to  himself,  his  god’s  con 
tinued  kindness  obliged  him  not  to  forsake  his  ser¬ 
vice.”  It  appears,  from  the  above  and  similar  pas¬ 
sages,  that  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  an  honest  and  devout 
but  sufficiently  credulous  man,  had  mistaken  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  tolerant  powah.  The  latter  only  desired 
to  elude  the  necessity  of  his  practices  being  brought 
under  the  observant  eye  of  an  European,  while  he 
found  an  ingenious  apology  in  the  admitted  supe¬ 
riority  which  he  naturally  conceded  to  the  Deity  of  a 
people,  advanced,  as  he  might  well  conceive,  so  far 
above  his  own  in  power  and  attainments,  as  might 
reasonably  infer  a  corresponding  superiority  in  the 
nature  and  objects  of  their  worship. 

From  another  narrative,  we  are  entitled  to  infer 
that  the  European  wizard  was  held  superior  to  the 
native  sorcerer  of  North  America.  Among  the  num¬ 
berless  extravagances  of  the  Scottish  Dissenters  of 
the  17th  century,  now  canonized  in  a  lump  by  those 
who  view  them  in  the  general  light  of  enemies  to 
prelacy,  was  a  certain  ship-master,  called,  from  his 
size,  Meikle  John  Gibb.  This  man,  a  person  called 
Tamie,  and  one  or  two  other  men,  besides  twenty  or 
thirty  females  who  adhered  to  them,  went  the  wildest 
lengths  of  enthusiasm.  Gibb  headed  a  party,  who 
followed  him  into  the  moorlands,  and  at  the  Ford 
Mos3,  between  Airth  and  Stirling,  burned  their  Bibles, 
as  an  act  of  solemn  adherence  to  their  new  faith. 
They  were  apprehended  in  consequence,  and  com¬ 
mitted  to  prison  ;  and  the  rest  of  the  Dissenters, 
however  differently  they  were  affected  by  the  perse¬ 
cution  of  government,  when  it  applied  to  themselves, 
were  nevertheless  much  offended  that  these  poor  mad 
people  were  not  brought  to  capital  punishment  for 
their  blasphemous  extravagances ;  and  imputed  it  as  a 
fresh  crime  to  the  Duke  of  York,  that,  though  he  could 
not  be  often  accused  of  toleration,  he  considered  the 
discipline  of  the  house  of  correction  as  more  likely 
to  bring  the  unfortunate  Gibbites  to  their  senses,  than 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  81 

the  more  dignified  severities  of  a  public  trial  and  the 
gallows.  The  Cameronians,  however,  did  their  best 
to  correct  this  scandalous  lenity.  As  Meikle  John 
Gibb,  who  was  their  comrade  in  captivity,  used  to  dis¬ 
turb  their  worship  in  jail  by  his  maniac  howling, 
two  of  them  took  turn  about  to  hold  him  down  by 
force,  and  silence  him  by  a  napkin  thrust  into  his 
mouth.  This  mode  of  quieting  the  unlucky  heretic, 
though  sufficiently  emphatic,  being  deemed  ineffec¬ 
tual  or  inconvenient,  George  Jackson,  a  Cameronian, 
who  afterward  suffered  at  the  gallows,  dashed  the 
maniac  with  his  feet  and  hands  against  the  wall,  and 
beat  him  so  severely,  that  the  rest  were  afraid  that 
he  had  killed  him  outright.  After  which  specimen 
of  fraternal  chastisement,  the  lunatic,  to  avoid  the 
repetition  of  the  discipline,  whenever  the  prisoners 
began  worship,  ran  behind  the  door,  and  there, 
with  his  own  napkin  crammed  into  his  mouth,  sat 
howling  like  a  chastised  cur.  But  on  being  finally 
transported  to  America,  John  Gibb,  we  are  assured, 
was  much  admired  by  the  heathen  for  his  familiar 
converse  with  the  Devil  bodily,  and  offering  sacrifices 
to  him.  “He  died  there,”  says  Walker,  “about  the 
year  1720.”*  We  must  necessarily  infer,  that  the 
pretensions  of  the  natives  to  supernatural  communi¬ 
cation  could  not  be  of  a  high  class,  since  we  find  them 
honouring  this  poor  madman  as  their  superior :  and, 
in  general,  that  the  magic,  or  powahing,  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  was  not  of  a  nature  to  be  much  ap¬ 
prehended  by  the  British  colonists,  since  the  natives 
themselves  gave  honour  and  precedence  to  those 
Europeans  who  came  among  them  with  the  character 
of  possessing  intercourse  with  the  spirits  whom  they 
themselves  professed  to  worship. 

Notwithstanding  this  inferiority  on  the  part  of  the 
powahs,  it  occurred  to  the  settlers  that  the  heathen 

*  See  Patrick  Walker's  Biographia  Presbyteriana,  vo'.  ii.  p.  23  ;  also 
God's  Judgment  upon  Persecutors,  and  Wodruw’s  Ilistoiy,  upon  the 
article  John  Gibb. 


82 


LETTERS  ON 


Indians  and  Roman  Catholic  Frenchmen  were  par¬ 
ticularly  favoured  by  the  demons,  who  sometimes 
adopted  their  appearance,  and  showed  themselves 
in  their  likeness,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  colo¬ 
nists.  Thus,  in  the  year  1692,  a  party  of  real  or 
imaginary  French  and  Indians  exhibited  themselves 
occasionally  to  the  colonists  of  the  town  of  Glou 
cester,  in  the  county  of  Essex,  New-England, 
alarmed  the  country  around  very  greatly,  skirmished 
repeatedly  with  the  English,  and  caused  the  raising 
of  two  regiments,  and  the  despatching  a  strong  rein¬ 
forcement  to  the  assistance  of  the  settlement.  But 
as  these  visitants,  by  whom  they  were  plagued  more 
than  a  fortnight,  though  they  exchanged  fire  with  the 
settlers,  never  killed  or  scalped  any  one,  the  English 
became  convinced  that  they  were  not  real  Indians 
and  Frenchmen,  but  that  the  Devil  and  his  agents  had 
assumed  such  an  appearance,  although  seemingly 
not  enabled  effectually  to  support  it,  for  the  molesta¬ 
tion  of  the  colony.* 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  ideas  of  superstition  which 
the  more  ignorant  converts  to  the  Christian  faith 
borrowed  from  the  wreck  of  the  classic  mythology, 
were  so  rooted  in  the  minds  of  their  successors,  that 
these  found  corroboration  of  their  faith  in  demonology 
in  the  practice  of  every  pagan  nation  whose  destiny 
it  was  to  encounter  them  as  enemies,  and  that  as  well 
within  the  limits  of  Europe,  as  in  every  other  part  of 
the  globe  to  which  their  arms  were  carried.  In  a 
word,  it  may  be  safely  laid  down,  that  the  commonly 
received  doctrine  of  demonology,  presenting  the 
same  general  outlines,  though  varied  according  to  the 
fancy  of  particular  nations,  existed  through  all  Eu¬ 
rope.  It  seems  to  have  been  founded  originally  on 
feelings  incident  to  the  human  heart,  or  diseases  to 
which  the  human  frame  is  liable, — to  have  been 
largely  augmented  by  what  classic  superstitions  sur- 

*  Magnalia,  hook  vii.  article  xviii,  The  fact  is  also  alleged  in  the 
Life  of  Sir  William  Phipps. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  83 

vlved  the  ruins  of  paganism, — and  to  have  received 
new  contributions  from  the  opinions  collected  among 
the  barbarous  nations,  whether  of  the  east  or  of  the 
west.  1 1  is  now  necessary  to  enter  more  minutely  into 
the  question,  and  endeavour  to  trace  from  what  espe¬ 
cial  sources  the  people  of  the  middle  ages  derived 
those  notions,  which  gradually  assumed  the  shape 
of  a  regular  system  of  demonology. 


LETTER  III. 

Creed  of  Zoroaster — Received  partially  into  most  Heathen  Nations — In¬ 
stances  among  the  Celtic  Tribes  of  Scotland — Beltaine  Feast — Gude- 
man’s  Croft — Such  Abuses  admitted  into  Christianity  after  the  earlier 
Agesoflhe  Church — Law  of  the  Romans  against  Witchcraft — Roman 
Customs  survive  the  Fall  of  their  Religion — Instances — Demonology 
of  the  Northern  Barbarians — Nicksas — -Bhar-geist— Correspondence 
between  the  Northern  and  Roman  Witches — The  Power  of  Fascina¬ 
tion  ascribed  to  the  Sorceresses — Example  from  the  Eyrbiggia  Saga — 
The  Prophetesses  of  the  Germans — The  Gods  of  Valhalla  not  highly 
regarded  by  their  Worshippers — Often  defied  by  their  Champions — 
Demons  of  the  North — Story  of  Assueit  and  Asinund — Action  of  Eject¬ 
ment  against  Spectres — Adventure  of  a  Champion  with  the  Goddess 
Freya — Conversion  of  the  Pagans  of  Iceland  to  Christianity — North¬ 
ern  Superstitions  mixed  with  thoseof  the  Celts— Satyrs  of  the  North — 
Highland  Ourisk— Meming  the  Satyr. 

The  creed  of  Zoroaster,  which  naturally  occurs  to 
unassisted  reason  as  a  mode  of  accounting  for  the 
mingled  existence  of  good  and  evil  in  the  visible 
world — that  belief  which,  in  one  modification  or 
another,  supposes  the  coexistence  of  a  benevolent 
and  malevolent  principle,  which  contend  together 
without  either  being  able  decisively  to  prevail  over 
his  antagonist,  leads  the  fear  and  awe  deeply  im¬ 
pressed  on  the  human  mind  to  the  worship  as  well 
of  the  author  of  evil,  so  tremendous  in  all  the  effects 
of  which  credulity  accounts  him  the  primary  cause, 
as  to  that  of  his  great  opponent,  who  is  loved  and 
adored  as  the  Father  of  all  that  is  good  and  bounti- 


84- 


letters  ON 


ful.  Nay,  such  is  the  timid  servility  of  human  na¬ 
ture,  that  the  worshippers  will  neglect  the  altars  of 
the  Author  of  good,  rather  than  that  of  Arimanes, 
trusting  with  indifference  to  the  well-known  mercy 
of  the  one,  while  they  shrink  from  the  idea  of  irri¬ 
tating  the  vengeful  jealousy  of  the  awful  father  of 
evil. 

The  Celtic  tribes,  by  whom,  under  various  denomi¬ 
nations,  Europe  seems  to  have  been  originally  peo¬ 
pled,  possessed,  in  common  with  other  savages,  a 
natural  tendency  to  the  worship  of  the  evil  principle. 
They  did  not,  perhaps,  adore  Arimanes,  under  one 
sole  name,  or  consider  the  malignant  divinities  as 
sufficiently  powerful  to  undertake  a  direct  struggle 
with  the  more  benevolent  gods ;  yet  they  thought  it 
worth  while  to  propitiate  them  by  various  expiatory 
rites  and  prayers,  that  they,  and  the  elementary  tem¬ 
pests,  which  they  conceived  to  be  under  their  direct 
command,  might  be  merciful  to  suppliants  who  had 
acknowledged  their  power,  and  deprecated  their  ven¬ 
geance. 

Remains  of  these  superstitions  might  be  traced  till 
past  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  though  fast  be¬ 
coming  obsolete,  or  passing  into  mere  popular  cus¬ 
toms  of  the  country,  which  the  peasantry  observe, 
without  thinking  of  their  origin.  About  1769,  when 
Mr.  Pennant  made  his  tour,  the  ceremony  of  the 
Baaltein,  Beltane,  or  First  of  May,  though  varying 
in  different  districts  of  the  Highlands,  was  yet  in 
strict  observance ;  and  the  cake,  which  was  then 
baken  with  scrupulous  attention  to  certain  rites  and 
forms,  was  divided  into  fragments,  which  were  for¬ 
mally  dedicated  to  birds  or  heasts  of  prey,  that  they, 
or  rather  the  being  whose  agents  they  were,  might 
spare  the  flocks  and  herds.* 

Another  custom  of  similar  origin  lingered  late 

*  See  Pennant’s  Scottish  Tour,  vol.  i.  p.  111.  The  traveller  mentions 
that  some  festival  of  the  same  kind  was,  in  his  lime,  observed  in  Glouces¬ 
tershire. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


85 


among  us.  In  many  parishes  of  Scotland  there  was 
suffered  to  exist  a  certain  portion  of  land,  called  the 
gudemaTi’s  croft ,  which  was  never  ploughed  or  culti¬ 
vated,  but  suffered  to  remain  waste,  like  the  Temenos 
of  a  pagan  temple.  Though  it  was  not  expressly 
avowed,  no  one  doubted  that  the  gudeman’s  croft  was 
set  apart  for  some  evil  being ;  in  fact,  that  it  was  the 
portion  of  the  arch-fiend  himself,  whom  our  ances¬ 
tors  distinguished  by  a  name,  which,  while  it  was 
generally  understood,  could  not,  it  was  supposed,  be 
offensive  to  the  stern  inhabitant  of  the  regions  of 
despair.  This  was  so  general  a  custom,  that  the 
Church  published  an  ordinance  against  it  as  an  im¬ 
pious  and  blasphemous  usage. 

This  singular  custom  sunk  before  the  efforts  of  the 
clergy  in  the  seventeenth  century ;  but  there  must 
still  be  many  alive,  who  in  childhood  have  been 
taught  to  look  with  wonder  on  knolls  and  patches  of 
ground  left  uncultivated,  because,  whenever  a  plough¬ 
share  entered  the  soil,  the  elementary  spirits  were 
supposed  to  testify  their  displeasure  by  storm  and 
thunder.  Within  our  own  memory,  many  such 
places,  sanctified  to  barrenness  by  some  favourite 
popular  superstition,  existed,  both  in  Wales  and  Ire¬ 
land,  as  well  as  in  Scotland ;  but  the  high  price  of 
agricultural  produce  during  the  late  war,  renders  it 
doubtful  if  a  veneration  for  gray-bearded  superstition 
has  suffered  any  one  of  them  to  remain  undesecrated. 
For  the  same  reason,  the  mounts  called  Sith  Bhru- 
aith  wefre  respected,  and  it  was  deemed  unlawful  and 
dangerous  to  cut  wood,  dig  earth  and  stones,  or 
otherwise  disturb  them.* 

Now,  it  may  at  first  sight  seem  strange  that  the 
Christian  .religion  should  have  permitted  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  such  gross  and  impious  relics  of  heathenism, 
in  a  land  where  its  doctrines  had  obtained  universal 
credence.  But  this  will  not  appear  so  wonderful, 

*  See  Essay  on  the  Subterranean  Commonwealth ,  by  Mr.  Robert 
J£irkk,  Minister  of  Aberfoyle. 

H 


86 


LETTERS  ON 


■when  it  is  recollected  that  the  original  Christians 
under  the  heathen  emperors  were  called  to  conver¬ 
sion  by  the  voice  of  apostles  and  saints,  invested  for 
the  purpose  with  miraculous  powers,  as  well  of  lan¬ 
guage,  for  communicating  their  doctrine  to  the  Gen¬ 
tiles,  as  of  cures,  for  the  purpose  of  authenticating 
their  mission.  These  converts  must  have  been  in 
general  such  elect  persons  as  were  effectually  called 
to  make  part  of  the  infant  Church ;  and  when  hypo¬ 
crites  ventured,  like  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  to  in¬ 
trude  themselves  into  so  select  an  association,  they 
were  liable,  at  the  Divine  pleasure,  to  be  detected 
and  punished.  On  the  contraiy,  the  nations  who 
were  converted  after  Christianity  had  become  the 
religion  of  the  empire  were  not  brought  within  the 
pale  upon  such  a  principle  of  selection,  as  when  the 
Church  consisted  of  a  few  individuals,  who  had,  upon 
conviction,  exchanged  the  errors  of  the  pagan  reli¬ 
gion  for  the  dangers  and  duties  incurred  by  those 
who  embraced  a  faith  inferring  the  self-denial  of  its 
votaries,  and  at  the  same  time  exposing  them  to  perse¬ 
cution.  When  the  Cross  became  triumphant,  and  its 
cause  no  longer  required  the  direction  of  inspired 
men,  or  the  evidence  of  miracles,  to  compel  reluc¬ 
tant  belief,  it  is  evident  that  the  converts  who 
thronged  into  the  fold  must  have,  many  of  them,  en¬ 
tered  because  Christianity  was  the  prevailing  faith — 
many  because  it  was  the  church,  the  members  of 
which  rose  most  readily  to  promotion — many,  finally, 
who,  though  content  to  resign  the  worship  of* pagan 
divinities,  could  not,  at  once,  clear  their  minds  of 
heathen  ritual  and  heathen  observances,  which  they 
inconsistently  laboured  to  unite  with  the  more  sim¬ 
ple  and  majestic  faith  that  disdained  such  impure 
union.  If  this  was  the  case  even  in  the  Roman  em¬ 
pire,  where  the  converts  to  the  Christian  faith  must 
have  found,  among  the  earlier  members  of  the 
Church,  the  readiest  and  the  soundest  instruction, 
4ow  much  more  imperfectly  could  those  foreign  and 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


87 


baroarous  tribes  reeeive  the  necessary  religious  in¬ 
formation  from  some  zealous  and  enthusiastic 
preacher,  who  christened  them  by  hundreds  in  one 
day?  Still  less  could  we  imagine  them  to  have 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  Christianity,  in  the  genuine 
and  perfect  sense  of  the  word,  when,  as  was  fre¬ 
quently  the  case,  they  only  assumed  the  profession 
of  the  religion  that  had  become  the  choice  of  some 
favoured  chief,  whose  example  they  followed  in 
mere  love  and  loyalty,  without,  perhaps,  attaching 
more  consequence  to  a  change  of  religion  than  to  a 
change  of  garments.  Suqh  hasty  converts,  profess¬ 
ing  themselves  Christians,  but  neither  weaned  from 
their  old  belief,  nor  instructed  in  their  new  one,  en¬ 
tered  the  sanctuary  without  laying  aside  the  super¬ 
stitions  with  which  their  young  minds  had  been 
imbued;  and,  accustomed  to  a  plurality  of  deities, 
some  of  them,  who  bestowed  unusual  thought  on  the 
matter,  might  be  of  opinion,  that,  in  adopting  the 
God  of  the  Christians,  they  had  not  renounced  the 
service  of  every  inferior  power. 

If,  indeed,  the  laws  of  the  empire  could  have  been 
supposed  to  have  had  any  influence  over  those  fierce 
barbarians,  who  conceived  that  the  empire  itself  lay 
before  them  as  a  spoil,  they  might  have  been  told 
that  Constantine,  taking  the  offence  of  alleged  magi¬ 
cians  and  sorcerers  in  the  same? light  in  which  it  was 
viewed  in  the  law  of  Moses,  hkd  denounced  death 
against  any  one  who  used  these  unlawful  inquiries 
into  futurity.  “  Let  the  unlawful  curiosity  of  prying 
into  futurity,”  says  the  law,  “be  silent  in  every 
one  henceforth  and  for  ever.*  For,  subjected  to  the 
avenging  sword  of  the  law,  he  shall  be  punished 
capitally  who  disobeys  our  commands  in  this  matter.” 

If,  however,  we  look  more  closely  into  this  enact¬ 
ment,  we  shall  be  led  to  conclude  that  the  civil  la  w 
does  not  found  upon  the  prohibitions  and  penalties 

*  Codex,  lib.  ix.  tit.  18,  cap.  1, 2, 3,  5,  6,  7,  8. 


88 


LETTERS  ON 


in  Scripture ;  although  it  condemns  the  ars  mathe - 
matica  (for  the  most  mystic  and  uncertain  of  all 
sciences,  real  or  pretended,  at  that  time  held  the 
title  which  now  distinguishes  the  most  exact)  as  a 
damnable  art,  and  utterly  interdicted,  and  declares 
that  the  practitioners  therein  should  die  by  fire,  as 
enemies  of  the  human  race — yet,  the  reason  of  this 
severe  treatment  seems  to  be  different  from  that 
acted  upon  in  the  Mosaical  institutions.  The  weight 
of  the  crime  among  the  Jews  was  placed  on  the 
blasphemy  of  the  diviners,  and  their  treason  against 
the  theocracy  instituted  by  Jehovah.  The  Roman 
legislators  were,  on  the  other  hand,  moved  chiefly 
by  the  danger  arising  to  the  person  of  the  prince 
and  the  quiet  of  the  state,  so  apt  to  be  unsettled  by 
every  pretence  or  encouragement  to  innovation. 
The  reigning  emperors,  therefore,  were  desirous  to 
place  a  check  upon  the  mathematics  (as  they  termed 
the  art  of  divination),  much  more  for  a  political  than 
a  religious  cause,  since  we  observe,  in  the  history  of 
the  empire,  how  often  the  dethronement  or  death  of 
the  sovereign  was  produced  by  conspiracies  or  mu¬ 
tinies  which  took  their  rise  from  pretended  pro¬ 
phecies.  In  this  mode  of  viewing  the  crime,  the 
lawyers  of  the  lower  empire  acted  upon  the  example 
of  those  who  had  compiled  the  laws  of  the  twelve 
tables.*  The  mistaken  and  misplaced  devotion 
which  Horace  recommends  to  the  rural  nymph, 
Phidyle,  would  have  been  a  crime  of  a  deep  die  in 

*  By  this  more  ancient  code,  the  punishment  of  death  was  indeed 
denounced  against  those  who  destroyed  crops,  awakened  storms,  or 
brought  over  to  their  barns  and  garners  the  fruits  of  the  earth  ;  but,  by 
good  fortune,  it  left  the  agriculturists  of  the  period  at  liberty  to  use  the 
means  they  thought  most  proper  to  render  their  fields  fertile  and  plenti¬ 
ful.  Pliny  informs  us,  that  one  Caius  Furius  Cresinns,  a  Roman  of 
mean  estate,  raised  larger  crops  from  a  small  field,  than  his  neighbours 
could  obtain  from  more  ample  possessions.  He  was  brought  before  the 
judge,  upon  a  charge,  averring  that  he  conjured  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
produced  by  his  neighbours’  farms,  into  his  own  possession.  Cresinua 
appeared,  and,  having  proved  the  return  of  his  farm  to  be  the  produce 
*f  his  own  hard  and  unremitting  labour,  as  well  as  superior  skill,  wan 
Ssmisscd  with  the  highest  honours. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  89 

a  Christian  convert,  and  must  have  subjected  him  to 
excommunication,  as  one  relapsed  to  the  rites  of 
paganism ;  but  he  might  indulge  his  superstition,  by 
supposing,  that  though  he  must  not  worship  Pan  or 
Ceres,  as  gods,  he  was  at  liberty  to  fear  them  in  their 
new  capacity  of  fiends.  Some  compromise  between 
the  fear  and  the  conscience  of  the  new  converts,  at 
a  time  when  the  Church  no  longer  consisted  exclu¬ 
sively  of  saints,  martyrs,  and  confessors,  the  disci¬ 
ples  of  inspire^  Apostles,  led  them,  and  even  their 
priestly  guides,  subject  like  themselves  to  human 
passions  and  errors,  to  resort  as  a  charm,  if  not  as 
an  act  of  worship,  to  those  sacrifices,  words,  and 
ritual,  by  which  the  heathen,  whom  they  had  suc¬ 
ceeded,  pretended  to  arrest  evil,  or  procure  benefits. 

When  such  belief  in  a  hostile  principle  and  its 
imaginations  was  become  general  in  the  Roman 
empire,  the  ignorance  of  its  conquerors,  those  wild 
nations,  Franks,  Goths,  Vandals,  Huns,  and  similar 
classes  of  unrefined  humanity,  made  them  prone  to 
an  error  which  there  were  few  judicious  preachers 
to  warn  them  against ;  and  we  ought  rather  to  won¬ 
der  and  admire  the  Divine  clemency,  which  imparted 
to  so  rude  nations  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  and  dis¬ 
posed  them  to  receive  a  religion  so  repugnant  to 
■  their  warlike  habits,  than  that  they  should,  at  the 
same  time,  have  adopted  many  gross  superstitions, 
borrowed  from  the  pagans,  or  retained  numbers  of 
those  which  had  made  part  of  their  own  national 
forms  of  heathenism. 

Thus,  though  the  thrones  of  Jupiter,  and  the  supe¬ 
rior  deities  of  the  heathen  Pantheon,  were  totally 
overthrown  and  broken  to  pieces,  fragments  of  their 
worship,  and  many  of  their  rites,  survived  the  con 
version  to  Christianity, — nay,  are  in  existence  even 
at  this  late  and  enlightened  period,  although  those 
by  whom  they  are  practised  have  not  preserved  the 
least  memory  of  their  original  purpose.  We  may 
hastily  mention  one  or  two  customs  of  classical 

H  2 


90 


LETTERS  ON 


origin,  in  addition  to  the  Beltane  and  those  already 
noticed,  which  remain  as  examples  that  the  manners 
of  the  Romans  once  gave  the  tone  to  the  greater 
part  of  the  island  of  Britain,  and  at  least  to  the  whole 
which  was  to  the  south  of  the  wall  of  Severus. 

The  following  customs  still  linger  in  the  south  of 
Scotland,  and  belong  to  this  class :  The  bride,  when 
she  enters  the  house  of  her  husband,  is  lifted  over 
the  threshold,  and  to  step  on  it,  or  over  it,  volun¬ 
tarily,  is  reckoned  a  bad  omen.  Tips  custom  was 
universal  in  Rome,  where  it  was  observed  as  keep¬ 
ing  in  memory  the  rape  of  the  Sabines,  and  that  it 
was  by  a  show  of  violence  towards  the  females,  that 
the  object  of  peopling  the  city  was  attained.  On  the 
same  occasion,  a  sweet  cake,  baked  for  the  purpose, 
is  broken  above  the  head  of  the  bride ;  which  is  also 
a  rite  of  classic  antiquity. 

In  like  manner,  the  Scottish,  even  of  the  better 
rank,  avoid  contracting  marriage  in  the  month  of 
May,  which  genial  season  of  flowers  and  breezes 
might,  in  other  respects,  appear  so  peculiarly  fa¬ 
vourable  for  that  purpose.  It  was  specially  objected 
to  the  marriage  of  Mary  with  the  profligate  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  that  the  union  was  formed  within  this  in¬ 
terdicted  month.  This  prejudice  was  so  rooted 
among  the  Scots,  that,  in  1684,  a  set  of  enthusiasts, 
called  Gibbites,  proposed  to  renounce  it,  among  a 
long  list  of  stated  festivals,  fast  days,  popish  relics, 
not  forgetting  the  profane  names  of  the  days  of  the 
week,  names  of  the  months,  and  all  sorts  of  idle  and 
silly  practices  which  their  tender  consciences  took 
an  exception  to.  This  objection  to  solemnize  mar¬ 
riage  in  tne  merry  month  of  May,  however  fit  a  sea¬ 
son  for  courtship,  is  also  borrowed  from  the  Roman 
pagans,  which,  had  these  fanatics  been  aware  of  it, 
would  have  been  an  additional  reason  for  their  ana¬ 
thema  against  the  practice.  The  ancients  have  given 
us  as  a  maxim,  that  it  is  only  bad  women  wh  >  marry 
,in  that  month.* 


Mai*  nubent  Maia. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  91 

The  custom  of  saying,  God  bless  you,  when  a 
^person  in  company  sneezes,  is,  in  like  manner,  de¬ 
rived  from  sternutation  being  considered  as  a  crisis 
of  the  plague  at  Athens,  and  the  hope  that,  when  it 
was  attained,  the  patient  had  a  chance  of  recovery. 

But,  besides  these,  and  many  other  customs  which 
the  various  nations  of  Europe  receive  from  the 
classical  times,  and  which  it  is  not  our  object  to  in¬ 
vestigate,  they  derived  from  thence  a  shoal  of  super¬ 
stitious  beliefs,  which,  blended  and  mingled  with 
those  which  they  brought  with  them  out  of  their  own 
country,  fostered  and  formed  the  materials  of  a 
demonological  creed,  which  has  descended  down 
almost  to  our  own  times.  Nixas,  or  Nicksa,  a  river 
or  ocean  god,  worshipped  on  the  shores  of  the 
Baltic,  seems  to  have  taken  uncontested  possession 
of  the  attributes  of  Neptune.  Amid  the  twilight 
winters  and  overpowering  tempests  of  these  gloomy 
regions,  he  had  been  not  unnaturally  chosen  as  the 
power  most  adverse  to  man,  and  the  supernatural 
character  with  which  he  was  invested  has  descended 
to  our  time  under  two  different  aspects.  The  Nixa 
.of  the  Germans  is  one  of  those  fascinating  and  lovely 
fays  whom  the  ancients  termed  Naiads;  and,  unless 
her  pride  is  insulted,  or  her  jealousy  awakened,  by 
an  inconstant  lover,  her  temper  is  generally  mild, 
and  her  actions  beneficent.  The  Old  Nick,  known 
in  England,  is  an  equally  genuine  descendant  of  the 
northern  sea  god,  and  possesses  a  larger  portion  of 
his  powers  and  terrors.  The  British  sailor,  who 
fears  nothing  else,  confesses  his  terrors  for  this  ter¬ 
rible  being,  and  believes  him  the  author  of  almost 
all  the  various  calamities  to  which  the  precarious  life 
of  a  seaman  is  so  continually  exposed. 

The  Bhar-guest,  or  Bhar-geist,  by  which  name  it 
is  generally  acknowledged  through  various  country 
parts  of  England,  and  particularly  in  Yorkshire,  also 
called  a  Dobie — a  local  spectre  which  haunts  a  par* 
ticular  spot: under  various  forms — is  a  deity,  as  his 


92 


LETTERS  ON 


name  implies,  of  Teutonic  descent ;  and  if  it  be  true, 
as  the  author  has  been  informed,  that  some  families 
bearing  the  name  of  Dobie  carry  a  phantom,  or 
spectre  passant,  in  their  armorial  bearings,*  it  plainly 
implies,  that,  however  the  word  may  have  been 
selected  for  a  proper  name,  its  original  derivation  had 
not  then  been  forgotten. 

The  classic  mythology  presented  numerous  points 
in  which  it  readily  coalesced  with  that  of  the  Ger¬ 
mans,  Danes,  and  Northmen  of  a  later  period.  They 
recognised  the  power  of  Erictho,  Canidia,  and  other 
sorceresses,  whose  spells  could  perplex  the  course  of 
the  elements,  intercept  the  influence  of  the  sun,  and 
prevent  his  beneficial  operation  upon  the  fruits  of  the 
earth ;  call  down  the  moon  from  her  appointed  sphere, 
and  disturb  the  original  and  destined  course  of  nature 
by  their  words  and  charms,  and  the  power  of  the  evil 
spirits  whom  they  evoked.  They  were  also  profes¬ 
sionally  implicated  in  all  such  mystic  and  secret  rites 
and  ceremonies  as  were  used  to  conciliate  the  favour 
of  the  infernal  powers,  whose  dispositions  were  sup¬ 
posed  as  dark  and  wayward,  as  their  realms  were 
gloomy  and  dismal.  Such  hags  were  frequent  agents 
in  the  violation  of  unburied  bodies,  and  it  was  be¬ 
lieved,  by  the  vulgar  at  least,  that  it  was  dangerous 
to  leave  corpses  unguarded,  lest  they  should  be 
mangled  by  the  witches,  wrho  took  from  them  the 
most  choice  ingredients  composing  their  charms. 
Above  all,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these  fright¬ 
ful  sorceresses  possessed  the  power  of  transforming 
themselves  and  others  into  animals,  which  are  used 
in  their  degree  of  quadrupeds,  or  in  whatever  other 
laborious  occupation  belongs  to  the  transformed 
state.  The  poets  of  the  heathens,  with  authors  of 

*  A  similar  bearing  has  been  ascribed,  for  the  same  reason,  to  those  of 
the  name  of  Fantome,  who  carried  of  old  a  goblin,  or  phantom,  in  a  shroud 
eable  passant,  on  a  field  azure.  Both  bearings  are  founded  on  what 
is  called  canting  heraldry,  a  species  of  art  disowned  by  the  writers  on 
the  science,  yet  universally  made  use  of  by  those  who  practise  the  art 
of  blazonry. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


93 


fiction,  such  as  Lucian  and  Apuleius,  ascribe  all  these 
powers  to  the  witches  of  the  pagan  world,  combining 
them  with  the  art  of  poisoning,  and  of  making  magical 
filters,  to  seduce  the  affections  of  the  young  and 
beautiful ;  and  such  were  the  characteristics  which, 
in  greater  or  less  extent,  the  people  of  the  middle 
ages  ascribed  to  the  witches  of  their  day. 

But  in  thus  adopting  the  superstitions  of  the 
ancients,  the  conquerors  of  the  Roman  empire  com¬ 
bined  them  with  similar  articles  of  belief,  which  they 
had  brought  with  them  from  their  original  settlements 
in  the  North,  where  the  existence  of  hags  of  the 
same  character  formed  a  great  feature  in  their  Sagas 
and  their  Chronicles.  It  requires  but  a  slight  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  these  compositions,  to  enable  the  reader 
to  recognise  in  the  Galdrakinna  of  the  Scalds,  the 
Stryga,  or  witch-woman  of  more  classical  climates. 
In  the  northern  ideas  of  witches,  there  was  no  irre- 
ligion  concerned  with  their  lore  ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
possession  of  magical  knowledge  was  an  especial 
attribute  of  Odin  himself ;  and  to  intrude  themselves 
upon  a  Deity,  and  compel  him  to  instruct  them  in 
what  they  desired  to  know,  was  accounted  not  an  act 
of  impiety,  but  of  gallantry  and  high  courage,  among 
those  sons  of  the  sword  and  the  spear.  Their  matrons 
possessed  a  high  reputation  for  magic,  for  prophetic 
powers,  for  creating  illusions ;  and,  if  not  capable  of 
transformations  of  the  human  body,  they  were  at 
least  able  to  impose  such  fascination  on  the  sight  of 
their  enemies,  as  to  conceal  for  a  period  the  objects 
of  which  they  were  in  search. 

There  is  a  remarkable  story  in  the  Eyrbiggia  Saga 
(Historia  Eyranorum),  giving  the  result  of  such  a 
controversy  between  two  of  these  gifted  women,  one 
of  whom  was  determined  on  discovering  and  putting 
to  death  the  son  of  the  other,  named  Katla,  who  in  a 
brawl  had  cut  off  the  hand  of  the  daughter-in-law 
of  Gierada.  A  party  detached  to  avenge  this  wrong, 
by  putting  Oddo  to  death,  returned  deceived  by  the 


94 


LETTERS  ON 


skill  of  his  mother.  They  had  found  only  Katla, 
they  said,  spinning  flax  from  a  large  distaff.  “  Fools,” 
said  Geirada,  “  that  distaff  was  the  man  you  sought.” 
They  returned,  seized  the  distaff,  and  burned  it.  But 
this  second  time,  the  witch  disguised  her  son  under 
the  appearance  of  a  tame  kid.  A  third  time  he  was 
a  hog,  which  grovelled  among  the  ashes.  The  party 
returned  yet  again ;  augmented,  as  one  of  Katla’s 
maidens,  who  kept  watch,  informed  her  mistress,  by 
one  in  a  blue  mhntle.  “  Alas  1”  said  Katla,  “  it  is 
the  sorceress  Geirada,  against  whom  spells  avail  not.” 
Accordingly,  the  hostile  party,  entering  for  the  fourth 
time,  seized  on  the  object  of  their  animosity,  and  put 
him  to  death.*  This  species  of  witchcraft  is  well 
known  in  Scotland  as  the  glamour ,  or  deceptio  visus, 
and  was  supposed  to  be  a  special  attribute  of  the  race 
of  Gipsies. 

Neither  are  those  prophetesses  to  be  forgotten,  so 
much  honoured  among  the  German  tribes,  that,  as 
we  are  assured  by  Tacitus,  they  rose  to  the  highest 
rank  in  their  councils,  by  their  supposed  supernatural 
knowledge,  and  even  obtained  a  share  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  their  armies.  This  peculiarity  in  the  habits 
of  the  North  was  so  general,  that  it  was  no  unusual 
thing  to  see  females,  from  respect  to  their  supposed 
views  into  futurity,  and  the  degree  of  divine  inspira¬ 
tion  which  was  vouchsafed  to  them,  arise  to  the  de¬ 
gree  of  Haxa,  or  chief  priestess,  from  which  comes 
the  word  Hexe,  now  universally  used  for  a  witch ;  a 
circumstance  which  plainly  shows,  that  the  mytho¬ 
logical  system  of  the  ancient  natives  of  the  North 
had  given  to  the  modern  language  an  appropriate 
word  for  distinguishing  those  females  who  had  inter¬ 
course  with  the  spiritual  world. f 

*  Eyrbiggia  Saga,  in  Northern  Antiquities. 

T  It  may  be  worth  while  to  notice,  that  the  word  Haxa  is  still  used 
in  Scotland  in  its  sense  of  a  druidess,  or  chief  priestess,  to  distinguish 
the  places  where  such  females  exercised  their  ritual.  There  is  a  species 
of  small  intrenchment  on  the  western  descent  of  the  Eildon  hills,  which 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT* 


95 


It  is  undeniable  that  these  Pythonesses  were  held 
in  high  respect  while  the  pagan  religion  lasted ;  but 
for  that  very  reason  they  became  odious  so  soon  as 
the  tribe  was  converted  to  Christianity.  They  were 
of  course,  if  they  pretended  to  retain  their  influence 
either  despised  as  impostors,  or  feared  as  sorceresses , 
and  the  more  that,  in  particular  instances,  they  be¬ 
came  dreaded  for  their  power,  the  more  they  w'ere 
detested,  under  the  conviction  that  they  derived  it 
from  the  enemy  of  man.  The  deities  of  the  northern 
heathens  underwent  a  similar  metamorphosis,  re¬ 
sembling  that  proposed  by  Drawcansir  in  the  Re¬ 
hearsal,  who  threatens  “to  make  a  god  subscribe 
himself  a  devil.” 

The  warriors  of  the  North  received  this  new  im¬ 
pression  concerning  the  influence  of  their  deities, 
and  the  source  from  which  it  was  derived,  with  the 
more  indifference,  as  their  worship,  when  their  my¬ 
thology  was  most  generally  established,  was  never 
of  a  very  reverential  or  devotional  character.  Their 
ideas  of  their  own  merely  human  prowess  was  so 
high,  that  the  champions  made  it  their  boast,  as  we 
have  already  hinted,  they  would  not  give  way  in  fight 
even  to  the  immortal  gods  themselves.  Such,  we 
learn  from  Cesar,  was  the  idea  of  the  Germans  con¬ 
cerning  the  Suevi  or  Swabians,  a  tribe  to  whom  the 
others  yielded  the  palm  of  valour ;  and  many  indi¬ 
vidual  stories  are  told  in  the  Sagas  concerning  bold 
champions,  who  had  fought,  not  only  with  the  sor¬ 
cerers,  but  with  the  demigods  of  the  system,  and 
come  off  unharmed,  if  not  victorious,  in  the  contest 


Mr.  Milne,  in  his  account  of  the  parish  of  Melrose,  drawn  up  about 
eighty  years  ago,  says  was  denominated  Bourjo ,  a  word  of  unknown 
derivation,  by  which  the  place  is  still  known.  Here  a  universal  and 
subsisting  tradition  bore,  that  human  sacrifices  were  of  yore  offered, 
while  the  people  assisting  could  behold  the  ceremony  from  the  elevation 
of  the  glacis,  which  slopes  inward.  With  this  place  of  sacrifice  com¬ 
municated  a  path,  still  discernible,  called  the  Haxellgate,  leading  to  a 
small  glen,  or  narrow  valley,  called  the  Haxellcleuch—bolh  which 
words  are  probably  derived  from  the  Haxa,  or  chief  priestess  of  the 
lagans. 


96 


LETTERS  ON 


Hother,  for  example,  encountered  the  god  Thor  in 
battle,  as  Diomede,  in  the  Iliad,  engages  with  Mars, 
and  with  like  success.  Bartholine*  gives  us  repeated 
examples  of  the  same  kind.  “Know  this,”  said 
Kiartan  to  Olaus  Trigguasen,  “  that  I  believe  neither 
in  idols  or  demons.  I  have  travelled  through  various 
strange  countries,  and  have  encountered  many  giants 
and  monsters,  and  have  never  been  conquered  by 
them;  I  therefore  put  my  sole  trust  in  my  own 
strength  of  body  and  courage  of  soul.”  Another  yet 
more  broad  answer  was  made  to  St.  Olaus,  King  of 
Norway,  by  Gaukater.  “  I  am  neither  pagan  nor 
Christian.  My  comrades  and  I  profess  no  other  re¬ 
ligion  than  a  perfect  confidence  in  our  own  strength 
and  invincibility  in  battle.”  Such  chieftains  were 
of  the  sect  of  Mezentius — 

“  Dextra  mi  hi  Deus,  et  telum,  quod  missile  lib.o, 

Nunc  adsint  !”f 

And  we  cannot  wonder  that  champions  of  such  a 
character,  careless  of  their  gods  while  yet  acknow¬ 
ledged  as  such,  readily  regarded  them  as  demons 
after  their  conversion  to  Christianity. 

To  incur  the  highest  extremity  of  danger  became 
accounted  a  proof  of  that  insuperable  valour  for  which 
every  Northman  desired  to  be  famed,  and  their 
annals  afford  numerous  instances  of  encounters  with 
ghosts,  witches,  furies,  and  fiends,  whom  the  Kiempe, 
or  champions,  compelled  to  submit  to  their  mere 
mortal  strength,  and  yield  to  their  service  the 
weapons  or  other  treasures  which  they  guarded  in 
their  tombs. 

The  Norsemen  were  the  more  prone  to  these  su¬ 
perstitions,  because  it  was  a  favourite  fancy  of  theirs 
that,  in  many  instances,  the  change  from  life  to 
death  altered  the  temper  of  the  human  spirit  from 

*  De  causis  contempt*  necis,  lib.  i.  cap.  6. 
t  jEneid,  lib.  x.  line  773. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


97 


benignant  to  malevolent ;  or  perhaps,  that  when  the 
soul  left  the  body,  its  departure  was  occasionally 
supplied  by  a  wicked  demon,  who  took  the  opportu¬ 
nity  to  enter  and  occupy  its  late  habitation. 

Upon  such  a  supposition  the  wild  fiction  that  fol¬ 
lows  is  probably  grounded ;  which,  extravagant  as 
it  is,  possesses  something  striking  to  the  imagination. 
Saxo  Grammaticus  tells  us  of  the  fame  of  two  Norse 
princes  or  chiefs,  who  had  formed  what  was  called  a 
brotherhood  in  arms,  implying  jiot  only  the  firmest 
friendship  and  constant  support  during  all  the  adven 
tures  which  they  should  undertake  in  life,  but  bind¬ 
ing  them  by  a  solemn  compact,  that  after  the  death 
of  either,  the  surviver  should  descend  alive  into  the 
sepulchre  of  his  brother-in-arms,  and  consent  to  be 
buried  along  with  him.  The  task  of  fulfilling  this 
dreadful  compact  fell  upon  Asmund,  his  companion, 
Assueit,  having  been  slain  in  battle.  The  tomb  was 
formed  after  the  ancient  northern  custom  in  what 
was  called  the  age  of  hills, — that  is,  when  it  was 
usual  to  bury  persons  of  distinguished  merit  or  rank 
on  some  conspicuous  spot,  which  was  crowned  with 
a  mound.  With  this  purpose  a  deep  narrow  vault 
was  constructed,  to  be  the  apartment  of  the  future 
tomb  over  which  the  sepulchral  heap  was  to  be  piled. 
Here  they  deposited  arms,  trophies,  poured  forth, 
perhaps,  the  blood  of  victims,  introduced  into  the 
tomb  the  war-horses  of  the  champions,  and  when 
these  rites  had  been  duly  paid,  the  body  of  Assueit 
was  placed  in  the  dark  and  narrow  house,  while  his 
faithful  brother-in-arms  entered  and  sat  down  by  the 
corpse,  without  a  word  or  look  which  testified  regret 
or  unwillingness  to  fulfil  his  fearful  engagement. 
The  soldiers  who  had  witnessed  this  singular  inter¬ 
ment  of  the  dead  and  living,  rolled  a  huge  stone  to 
the  mouth  of  the  tomb,  and  piled  so  much  earth  and 
stones  above  the  spot  as  made  a  mound  visible  from 
a  great  distance,  and  then,  with  loud  lamentation  for 
the  loss  of  such  undaunted  leaders,  they  dispersed 


98 


LETTERS  ON 


themselves  like  a  flock  which  has  lost  its  shep¬ 
herd. 

Years  passed  away  after  years,  and  a  century  had 
elapsed,  ere  a  noble  Swedish  rover,  bound  upon  some 
high  adventure,  and  supported  by  a  gallant  band  of 
followers,  arrived  in  the  valley  which  took  its  name 
from  the  tomb  of  the  brethren-in-arms.  The  story 
was  told  to  the  strangers,  whose  leader  determined 
on  opening  the  sepulchre,  partly  because,  as  already 
hinted,  it  was  reckoned  a  heroic  action  to  brave  the 
anger  of  departed  heroes  by  violating  their  tombs ; 
partly  to  attain  the  arms  and  swords  of  proof  with 
which  the  deceased  had  done  their  great  actions.  He 
set  his  soldiers  to  work,  and  soon  removed  the  earth 
and  stones  from  one  side  of  the  mound,  and  laid  bare 
the  entrance.  But  the  stoutest  of  the  rovers  started 
back,  when,  instead  of  the  silence  of  a  tomb,  they 
heard  within  horrid  cries,  the  clash  of  swords,  the 
clang  of  armour,  and  all  the  noise  of  a  mortal  com¬ 
bat  between  two  furious  champions.  A  young  war¬ 
rior  was  let  down  into  the  profoimd  tomb  by  a  cord, 
which  was  drawn  up  shortly  after,  in  hopes  of  news 
from  beneath.  But  when  the  adventurer  descended, 
some  one  threw  him  from  the  cord,  and  took  his 
place  in  the  noose.  When  the  rope  was  pulled  up, 
the  soldiers,  instead  of  their  companion,  beheld  As- 
mund,  the  survive r  of  the  brethren-in-arms.  He 
rushed  into  the  open  air,  his  sword  drawn  in  his  hand, 
his  armour  half  torn  from  his  body,  the  left  side  of 
his  face  almost  scratched  off,  as  by  the  talons  of 
some  wild  beast.  He  had  no  sooner  appeared  in  the 
light  of  day,  than,  with  the  improvisatory  poetic 
talent  which  these  champions  often  united  with  heroic 
strength  and  bravery,  he  poured  forth  a  string  of 
verses  containing  the  history  of  his  hundred  years’ 
conflict  within  the  tomb.  It  seems  that  no  sooner 
was  the  sepulchre  closed  than  the  corpse  of  the  slain 
Assueit  arose  from  the  ground,  inspired  by  some  ra¬ 
venous  goule,  and  having  first  torn  to  pieces  and  de- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


99 


voured  the  horses  which  had  been  entombed  with 
them,  threw  himself  upon  the  companion  who  had 
just  given  him  such  a  sign  of  devoted  friendship,  in 
order  to  treat  him  in  the  same  manner.  The  hero, 
no  way  discountenanced  by  the  horrors  of  his  situa¬ 
tion,  took  to  his  arms,  and  defended  himself  manfully 
against  Assueit,  or  rather  against  the  evil  demon 
who  tenanted  that  champion’s  body.  In  this  manner 
the  living  brother  waged  a  preternatural  combat, 
which  had  endured  during  a  whole  century,  when  As- 
mund,  at  last  obtaining  the  victory,  prostrated  his 
enemy,  and  by  driving,  as  he  boasted,  a  stake  through 
his  body,  had  finally  reduced  him  to  the  state  of  quiet 
becoming  a  tenant  of  the  tomb.  Having  chanted  the 
triumphant  account  of  his  contest  and  victory,  this 
mangled  conqueror  fell  dead  before  them.  The  body 
of  Assueit  was  taken  out  of  the  tomb,  burned,  and  the 
ashes  dispersed  to  heaven ;  while  that  of  the  victor, 
now  lifeless,  and  without  a  companion,  was  deposited 
tnere,  so  that  it  was  hoped  his  slumbers  'might 
remain  undisturbed.*  The  precautions  taken  against 
Assueit’s  reviving  a  second  time",  remind  us  of  those 
adopted  in  the  Greek  islands,  and  in  the  Turkish  pro¬ 
vinces,  against  the  vampire.  It  affords  also  a  deri¬ 
vation  of  the  ancient  English  law  in  case  of  suicide, 
when  a  stake  was  driven  through  the  body,  originally 
to  keep  it  secure  in  the  tomb. 

The  Northern  people  also  acknowledged  a  kind  of 
ghosts,  who,  when  they  had  obtained  possession  of  a 
building,  or  the  right  of  haunting  it,  did  not  defend 
themselves  against  mortals  on  the  knightly  principle 
of  duel,  like  Assueit,  nor  were  amenable  to  the 
prayers  of  the  priest  or  the  spells  of  the  sorcerer,  but 
became  tractable  when  properly  convened  in  a  legal 
process.  The  Eyrbiggia  Saga  acquaints  us,  that  the 
mansion  of  a  respectable  landholder  in  Iceland  was, 
soon  after  the  settlement  of  that  island,  exposed  to  a 


*  See  Saxo  Grammaticus,  Hist.  Dan.  lib.  v. 


100 


LETTERS  ON 


persecution  of  this  kind.  The  molestation  was  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  concurrence  of  certain  mystical  and 
spectral  phenomena,  calculated  to  introduce  such 
persecution.  About  the  commencement  of  winter, 
with  that  slight  exchange  of  darkness  and  twilight 
which  constitutes  night  and  day  in  these  latitudes,  a 
contagious  disease  arose  in  a  family  of  consequence, 
and  in  the  neighbourhood,  which,  sweeping  off  seve¬ 
ral  members  of  the  family  at  different  times,  seemed 
to  threaten  them  all  with  death.  But  the  death  of 
these  persons  was  attended  with  the  singular  conse¬ 
quence,  that  their  spectres  were  seen  to  wander  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  mansion-house,  terrifying, 
and  even  assaulting,  those  of  the  living  family  who 
ventured  abroad.  As  the  number  of  the  dead  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  devoted  household  seemed  to  increase  in 
proportion  to  that  of  the  survive  rs,  the  ghosts  took 
it  upon  them  to  enter  the  house,  and  produce  their 
aerial  forms  and  wasted  physiognomy,  even  in  the 
stove  where  the  fire  was  maintained  for  the  general 
use  of  the  inhabitants,  and  which,  in  an  Iceland  win¬ 
ter,  is  the  only  comfortable  place  of  assembling  the 
family.  But  the  remaining  inhabitants  of  the  place, 
terrified  by  the  intrusion  of  these  spectres,  chose  ra¬ 
ther  to  withdraw  to  the  other  extremity  of  the  house, 
and  abandon  their  warm  seats,  than  to  endure  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  phantoms.  Complaints  were 
at  length  made  to  a  pontiff  of  the  god  Thor,  named 
Snorro,  who  exercised  considerable  influence  in  the 
island.  By  his  counsel,  the  young  proprietor  of  the 
haunted  mansion  assembled  a  jury,  or  inquest,  of  his 
neighbours,  constituted  in  the  usual  judicial  form,  as 
if  to  judge  an  ordinary  civil  matter,  and  proceeded, 
in  their  presence,  to  cite  individually  the  varicms 
phantoms  and  resemblances  of  the  deceased  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  family,  to  show  by  what  warrant  they  dis¬ 
puted  with  him  and  Iris  servants  the  quiet  possession 
of  his  property,  and  what  defence  they  could  plead 
for  thus  interfering  with  and  incommoding  the  living. 


demonology  and  witchcraft.  101 

The  spectres  of  the  dead,  by  name,  and  in  order, 
as  summoned,  appeared  on  their  being  called,  and 
muttering  some  regrets  at  being  obliged  to  abandon 
their  dwelling,  departed,  or  vanished,  from  the  as¬ 
tonished  inquest.  Judgment  then  went  against  the 
ghosts  by  default ;  and  the  trial  by  jury,  of  which  we 
here  can  trace  the  origin,  obtained  a  tiiumph  un¬ 
known  to  any  of  the  great  writers  who  have  made  it 
the  subject  of  eulogy.* 

It  was  not  only  with  the  spirits  of  the  dead  that 
the  warlike  people  of  the  North  made  war  without 
timidity,  and  successfully  entered  into  suits  of  eject¬ 
ment  :  these  daring  champions  often  braved  the  in¬ 
dignation  even  of  the  superior  deities  of  their  my¬ 
thology,  rather  than  allow  that  there  existed  any 
being  before  whom  their  boldness  could  quail.  Such 
is  the  singular  story,  how  a  young  man  of  high 
courage,  in  crossing  a  desolate  ridge  of  mountains, 
met  with  a  huge  wagon,  in  which  the  goddess 
Freya,  ( i .  e.  a  gigantic  idol  formed  to  represent  her),  - 
together  with  her  shrine,  and  the  wealthy  offerings 
attached  to  it,  was  travelling  from  one  district  of  the 
country  to  another.  The  shrine,  or  sanctuary  of  the 
idol,  was,  like  a  modern  caravan  travelling  with  a 
show,  screened  by  boards  and  curtains  from  the 
public  gaze,  and  the  equipage  was  under  the  imme¬ 
diate  guidance  of  the  priestess  of  Freya,  a  young, 
good-looking,  and  attractive  woman.  The  traveller 
naturally  associated  himself  with  the  priestess,  who, 
as  she  walked  on  foot,  apparently  was  in  no  degree 
displeased  with  the  company  of  a  powerful  and 
handsome  young  man,  as  a  guide  and  companion  on 
the  journey.  It  chanced,  however,  that  the  presence 
of  the  champion,  and  his  discourse  with  the  priestess, 
was  less  satisfactory  to  the  goddess  than  to  the  par¬ 
ties  principally  concerned.  By  a  certain  signal  the 
•divinity  summoned  the  priestess  to  the  sanctuary 


*  Eyrbiggia  Saga.  See  Northern  Antiquities. 

12 


102 


LETTERS  ON 


who  presently  returned  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  and 
terror  in  her  countenance,  to  inform  her  companion 
that  it  was  the  will  of  Freya  that  he  should  depart, 
and  no  longer  travel  in  their  company.  “  You  must 
have  mistaken  the  meaning  of  the  goddess,”  said  the 
champion ;  “  Freya  cannot  have  formed  a  wish  so 
unreasonable,  as  to  desire  I  should  abandon  the 
straight  and  good  road,  which  leads  me  directly  on 
my  journey,  to  choose  precipitous  paths  and  by-roads, 
where  I  may  break  my  neck.” — “  Nevertheless,”  said 
the  priestess,  “  the  goddess  will  be  highly  offended 
if  you  disobey  her  commands,  nor  can  I  conceal  from 
you  that  she  may  personally  assault  you.” — “  It  will 
be  at  her  own  peril  if  she  should  be  so  audacious,” 
said  the  champion,  “  for  I  will  try  the  power  of  this 
axe  against  the  strength  of  beams  and  boards.” 
The  priestess  chid  him  for  his  impiety ;  but  being 
unable  to  compel  him  to  obey  the  goddess’  man¬ 
date,  they  again  relapsed  into  familiarity,  which 
advanced  to  such  a  point,  that  a  clattering  noise 
within  the  tabernacle,  as  of  machinery  put  in  motion, 
intimated  to  the  travellers  that  Freya,  who  perhaps 
had  some  qualities  in  common  with  the  classical 
Vesta,  thought  a  personal  interruption  of  this  tete-a- 
tete  ought  to  be  deferred  no  longer.  The  curtains 
flew  open,  and  the  massive  and  awkward  idol,  who, 
we  may  suppose,  resembled  in  form  the  giant  created 
by  Frankenstein,  leaped  lumbering  from  the  carriage, 
and  rushing  on  the  intrusive  traveller,  dealt  him, 
with  its  wooden  hands  and  arms,  such  tremendous 
•  blows,  as  were  equally  difficult  to  parry  or  to  en¬ 
dure.  But  the  champion  was  armed  with  a  double- 
edged  Danish  axe,  with  which  he  bestirred  himself 
with  so  much  strength  and  activity,  that  at  length  he 
split  the  head  of  the  image,  and  with  a  severe  blow 
hewed  off  its  left  leg.  The  image  of  Freya  then  fe  li 
motionless  to  the  ground,  and  the  demon  which  had 
animated  it,  flea  yelling  from  the  battered  tenement. 
The  champion  was  now  victor ;  and,  according  to. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


103 


the  law  of  arms,  took  possession  of  the  female  and 
the  baggage.  The  priestess,  the  divinity  of  whose 
patroness  had  been,  by  the  event  of  the  combat, 
sorely  lessened  in  her  eyes,  was  now  easily  induced 
to  become  the  associate  and  concubine  of  the  con-, 
queror.  She  accompanied  him  to  the  district  whither 
he  was  travelling,  and  there  displayed  the  shrine  of 
Freya,  taking  care  to  hide  the  injuries  which  the 
goddess  had  received  in  the  brawl.  The  champion 
came  in  for  a  share  of  a  gainful  trade  driven  by  the 
priestess,  besides  appropriating  to  himself  most  of 
the  treasures  which  the  sanctuary  had  formerly  con¬ 
tained.  Neither  does  it  appear  that  Freya,  having, 
perhaps,  a  sensible  recollection  of  the  power  of  the 
axe,  ever  again  ventured  to  appear  in  person  for  the 
purpose  of  calling  her  false  stewards  to  account. 

The  national  estimation  of  deities,  concerning 
whom  such  stories  could  be  told  and  believed,  was, 
of  course,  of  no  deep  or  respectful  character.  The 
Icelanders  abandoned  Odin,  Freya,  Thor,  and  their 
whole  pagan  mythology,  in  consideration  of  a  single 
disputation  between  the  heathen  priests  and  the 
Christian  missionaries.  The  priests  threatened  the 
island  with  a  desolating  eruption  of  the  volcano 
called  Hecla,  as  the  necessary  consequence  of  the 
vengeance  of  their  deities.  Snorro,  the  same  who 
advised  the  inquest  against  the  ghosts,  had  become 
a  convert  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  was  present 
on  the  occasion,  and  as  the  conference  was  held  on 
the  surface  of  what  had  been  a  stream  of  lava,  now 
covered  with  vegetable  substances,  he  answered  the 
priests  with  much  readiness,  “  To  what  was  the  in¬ 
dignation  of  the  gods  owing,  when  the  substance  on 
which  we  stand  was  fluid  and  scorching  1  Believe 
me,  men  of  Iceland,  the  eruption  of  the  volcano  de¬ 
pends  on  natural  circumstances,  now  as  it  did  then, 
and  is  not  the  engine  of  vengeance  intrusted  to  Thor 
and  Odin.”  It  is  evident,  that  men  who  reasoned 
with  so  much  accuracy  concerning  the  imbecility  of 


104 


LETTERS  ON 


Odin  and  Thor,  were  well  prepared,  on  abandoning 
their  worship,  to  consider  their  former  deities,  of 
whom  they  believed  so  much  that  was  impious,  in 
the  light  of  evil  demons. 

But  there  were  some  particulars  of  the  Northern 
creed,  in  which  it  corresponded  so  exactly  with  that 
of  the  classics,  as  leaves  room  to  doubt  whether  the 
original  Asae,  or  Asiatics,  the  founders  of  the  Scan¬ 
dinavian  system,  had,  before  their  migration  from 
Asia,  derived  them  from  some  common  source  with 
those  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans ;  or  whether,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  same  proneness  of  the  human 
mind  to  superstition  has  caused  that  similar  ideas 
are  adopted  in  different  regions,  as  the  same  plants 
are  found  in  distant  countries,  without  the  one,  as 
far  as  can  be  discovered,  having  obtained  the  seed 
from  the  others. 

The  classical  fiction,  for  example,  of  the  satyrs, 
and  other  subordinate  deities  of  wood  and  wild, 
whose  power  is  rather  delusive  than  formidable,  and 
whose  supernatural  pranks  intimate  rather  a  wish  to 
inflict  terror  than  to  do  hurt,  was  received  among 
the  northern  people,  and  perhaps  transferred  by  them 
to  the  Celtic  tribes.  It  is  an  idea  which  seems 
common  to  many  nations.  The  existence  of  a 
satyr,  in  the  sylvan  form,  is  even  pretended  to  be 
proved  by  the  evidence  of  Saint  Anthony,  to  whom 
one  is  said  to  have  appeared  in  the  desert.  The 
Scottish  Gael  have  an  idea  of  the  same  kind,  respect¬ 
ing  a  goblin  called  Ourisk,  whose  form  is  like  that 
of  Pan,  and  his  attendants  something  between  a  man 
and  a  goat,  the  nether  extremities  being  in  the  latter 
form.  A  species  of  cavern,  or  rather  hole,  in  the 
rock,  affords  to  the  wildest  retreat  in  the  romantic 
neighbourhood  of  Loch  Katrine,  a  name  taken  from 
classical  superstition.  It  is  not  the  least  curious 
circumstance,  that  from  this  sylvan  deity  the  modem 
nations  of  Europe  have  borrowed  the  degrading  and 
unsuitable  emblems  of  the  goat’s  visage  and  form,  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


105 


horns,  hoofs,  and  tail,  with  which  they  have  depicted 
the  author  of  evil,  when  it  pleased  him  to  show  himself 
on  earth.  So  that  the  alteration  of  a  single  word 
would  render  Pope’s  well-known  line  more  truly 
adapted  to  the  fact,  should  we  venture  to  read, 


“  And  Pan  to  Satan  lends  his  heathen  horn.” 

We  cannot  attribute  the  transference  of  the  attri¬ 
butes  of  the  northern  satyr,  or  Celtic  ourisk,  to  the 
arch-fiend,  to  any  particular  resemblance  between 
the  character  of  these  deities  and  that  of  Satan.  On 
the  contrary,  the  ourisk  of  the  Celts  was  a  creature 
by  no  means  peculiarly  malevolent,  or  fonnidably 
powerful;  but  rather  a  melancholy  spirit,  which 
dwelt  in  wildernesses  far  removed  from  men.  If  we 
are  to  identify  him  with  the  Brown  Dwarf  of  the 
Border  moors,  the  ourisk  has  a  mortal  term  of  life, 
and  a  hope  of  salvation,  as  indeed  the  same  high 
claim  was  made  by  the  satyr  who  appeared  to  St. 
Anthony.  Moreover,  the  Highland  ourisk  was  a 
species  of  lubber  fiend,  and  capable  of  being  over¬ 
reached  by  those  who  understood  philology.  It  is 
related  of  one  of  these  goblins,  which  frequented  a 
mill  near  the  foot  of  Loch  Lomond,  that  the  miller, 
desiring  to  get  rid  of  this  meddling  spirit,  who  injured 
the  machinery  by  setting  the  water  on  the  wheel 
when  there  was  no  grain  to  be  ground,  contrived  to 
have  a  meeting  with  the  goblin  by  watching  in  his 
mill  till  night.  The  ourisk  then  entered,  and  de 
manded  the  miller’s  name,  and  was  informed  that  he 
was  called  Myself;  on  which  is  founded  a  story  almost 
exactly  like  that  of  Outis  in  the  Odyssey,  a  tale 
which,  though  classic,  is  by  no  means  an  elegant  or 
ingenious  fiction,  but  which  we  are  astonished  to  find 
in  an  obscure  district,  and  in  the  Celtic  tongue,  seem¬ 
ing  to  argue  some  connexion  or  communication  be¬ 
tween  these  remote  Highlands  of  Scotland  and  the 
readers  of  Homer  in  former  days,  which  we  cannot 


106 


LETTERS  ON 


account  for.  After  all,  perhaps,  some  churchman 
more  learned  than  his  brethren  may  have  transferred 
the  legend  from  Sicily  to  Duncrune,  from  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  to  those  of  Loch  Lomond.  I 
have  heard  it  also  told,  that  the  celebrated  freebooter 
Rob  Roy  once  gained  a  victory  by  disguising  a  part 
of  his  men  with  goat-skins,  so  as  to  resemble  the 
ourisk,  or  Highland  satyr. 

There  was  an  individual,  satyr  called,  I  think, 
Meming,  belonging  to  the  Scandinavian  mythology, 
of  a  character  different  from  the  ourisk,  though 
similar  in  shape,  whom  it  was  the  boast  of  the  high¬ 
est  champions  to  seek  out  in  the  solitudes  which  he 
inhabited.  He  was  an  armourer  of  extreme  dexterity, 
and  the  weapons  which  he  forged  were  of  the  highest 
value.  But  as  club-law  pervaded  the  ancient 
system  of  Scandinavia,  Meming  had  the  humour  of 
refusing  to  work  for  any  customer  save  such  as  com¬ 
pelled  him  to  it  with  force  of  arms.  He  may  be, 
perhaps,  identified  with  the  recusant  smith  who  fled 
before  Fingal  from  Ireland  to  the  Orkneys,  and  being 
there  overtaken,  was  compelled  to  forge  the  sword 
which  Fingal  afterward  wore  in  all  his  battles,  and 
which  was  called  the  Son  of  the  dark  brown  Luno, 
from  the  name  of  the  armourer  who  forged  it.* 

From  this  it  will  appear  that  there  were  originals 
enough  in  the  mythology  of  the  Goths,  as  well  as 
Celts,  to  furnish  the  modern  attributes  ascribed  to 
Satan  in  later  times,  when  the  object  of  painter  or 
poet  was  to  display  him  in  his  true  form,  and  with 
all  his  terrors.  Even  the  genius  of  Guido  and  of 
Tasso  have  been  unable  to  surmount  this  prejudice, 
the  more  rooted,  perhaps,  that  the  wicked  are  descri¬ 
bed  as  goats  in  Scripture,  and  that  the  Devil  is  called 
the  old  dragon.  In  Raffael’s  famous  painting  of  the 
arch-angel  Michael  binding  Satan,  the  dignity,  power. 


*  The  weapon  is  often  mentioned  in  Mr.  Mac  Pherson’s  paraphrases ; 
but  the  Irish  ballad,  which  gives  a  spirited  account  of  the  debate  between 
the  champion  and  the  armourer,  is  nowhere  introduced. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  107 

and  angelic  character  expressed  by  the  seraph,  form 
an  extraordinary  contrast  to  the  poor  conception  of 
a  being  who  ought  not,  even  in  that  lowest  degrada¬ 
tion,  to  have  seemed  so  unworthy  an  antagonist. 
Neither  has  Tasso  been  more  happy,  where  he  re¬ 
presents  the  divan  of  darkness,  in  the  enchanted 
forest,  as  presided  over  by  a  monarch  having  a  huge 
tail,  hoofs,  and  all  the  usual  accompaniments  of  popu¬ 
lar  diablerie.  The  genius  of  Milton  alone  could 
discard  all  these  vulgar  puerilities,  and  assign  to  the 
author  of  evil  the  terrible  dignity  of  one  who  should 
seem  not  “  less  than  arch-angel  ruined.”  This 
species  of  degradation  is  yet  grosser  when  we  take 
into  consideration  the  changes  which  popular  opi¬ 
nions  have  wrought  respecting  the  taste,  habits, 
powers,  modes  of  tempting,  and  habits  of  tormenting, 
which  are  such  as  might  rather  be  ascribed  to  some 
stupid,  superannuated,  and  doting  ogre  of  a  fairy  tale, 
than  to  the  powerful-minded  demon,  who  fell  through 
pride  and  rebellion,  not  through  folly  or  incapa¬ 
city. 

Having,  however,  adopted  our  present  ideas  of 
the  Devil  as  they  are  expressed  by  his  nearest  ac¬ 
quaintances,  the  witches,  from  the  accounts  of  sa¬ 
tyrs,  which  seem  to  have  been  articles  of  faith  both 
among  the  Celtic  and  Gothic  tribes,  we  must  next 
notice  another  fruitful  fountain  of  demonological 
fancies.  But  as  this  source  of  the  mythology  of  the 
middle  ages  must  necessarily  comprehend  some  ac¬ 
count  of  the  fairy  folk,  to  whom  much  of  it  must 
be  referred,  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  pause  before 
we  enter  upon  the  mystic  and  marvellous  connexion 
supposed  to  exist  between  the  impenitent  kingdom 
of  Satan,  and  those  merry  dancers  by  moonlight. 


108 


LETTERS  ON 


LETTER  IV. 


The  Fairy  Superstition  is  derived  from  different  Sources — The  classical 
Worship  of  the  Sylvans,  or  rural  Deities,  proved  by  Roman  Altars 
discovered— The  Gothic  Duergar,  or  Dwarfs — supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  Northern  Laps,  or  Fins — The  Niebelungen-Lied — King  Lau- 
rin’s  Adventures — Celtic  Fairies  of  a  gayer  Character,  yet  their  Plea¬ 
sures  empty  and  illusory — Addicted  to  carry  off  human  Beings,  both 
Infants  and  Adults — Adventures  of  a  Butler  a  in  Ireland— The  Elves 
supposed  to  pay  a  Tax  to  Hell — The  Irish,  Welsh,  Highlanders,  and 
Manxmen,  held  the  same  Belief— It  was  rather  rendered  more  gloomy 
by  the  Northern  Traditions — Merlin  and  Arthur  carried  off  by  the 
Fairies — also  Thomas  of  Erceldoune — His  Amour  with  the  Queen  of 
Eifland — His  Re-appearance  in  latter  Times — Another  Account  from 
Reginald  Scot — Conjectures  on  the  Derivation  of  the  word  Fairy. 

We  may  premise  by  observing,  that  the  classics 
had  not  forgotten  to  enrol  in  their  mythology  a  cer¬ 
tain  species  of  subordinate  deities,  resembling  the 
modern  elves  in  their  habits.  Good  old  Mr.  Gibb,  of 
the  Advocates’  Library  (whom  all  lawyers,  whose 
youth  he  assisted  in  their  studies  by  his  knowledge 
of  that  noble  collection,  are  bound  to  name  with 
gratitude),  used  to  point  out  among  the  ancient 
altars  under  his  charge,  one  which  is  consecrated, 
Diis  campestribus,  and  usually  added,  with  a  wink, 
“The  Fairies,  ye  ken.”*  This  relic  of  antiquity 
was  discovered  near  Roxburgh  Castle,  and  a  vicinity 
more  delightfully  appropriate  to  the  abode  of  the 
sylvan  deities  can  hardly  be  found.  Two  rivers  of 
considerable  size,  made  yet  more  remarkable  by  the 
fame  which  has  rendered  them  in  some  sort  classi- 

*  Another  altar  of  elegant  form,  and  perfectly  preserved,  was,  within 
these  few  weeks,  dug  up  near  the  junction  of  the  Leader  and  the  Tweed, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  village  of  Newstead,  to  the  east  of  Melrose. 
It  was  inscribed  by  Carrius  Domitianus,  the  prefect  of  the  twentieth 
legion,  to  the  god  Sylvanus,  forming  another  instance  how  much  the 
wild  and  sylvan  character  of  the  country  disposed  the  feelings  of  the 
Romans  to  acknowledge  the  presence  of  the  rural  deities.  The  altar  is 
preserved  at  Drygrange,  the  seat  of  Mr  Tod. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


109 


cal,  unite  their  streams  beneath  the  vestiges  of  an. 
extensive  castle,  renowned  in  the  wars  with  Eng¬ 
land,  and  for  the  valiant,  noble,  and  even  royal  blood, 
which  has  been  shed  around  and  before  it ; — a  land¬ 
scape,  ornamented  with  the  distant  village  and  huge 
abbey  tower  of  Kelso,  arising  out  of  groves  of  aged 
trees  ; — the  modern  mansion  of  Fleurs,  with  its  ter¬ 
race,  its  woods,  and  its  extensive  lawn,  form  alto¬ 
gether  a  kingdom  for  Oberon  and  Titania  to  reign 
in,  or  any  spirit  who,  before  their  time,  might  love 
scenery  of  which  the  majesty,  and  even  the  beauty, 
impress  the  mind  with  a  sense  of  awe  mingled  with 
pleasure.  These  sylvans,  satyrs,  and  fauns,  with 
whom  superstition  peopled  the  lofty  banks  and  tan¬ 
gled  copses  of  this  romantic  country,  were  obliged 
to  give  place  to  deities  very  nearly  resembling  them¬ 
selves  in  character,  who  probably  derive  some 
of  their  attributes  from  their  classic  predecessors, 
although  more  immediately  allied  to  the  barbarian 
conquerors ; — we  allude  to  the  fairies,  which,  as  re¬ 
ceived  into  the  popular  creed,  and  as  described  by 
the  poets  who  have  made  use  of  them  as  machinery, 
are  certainly  among  the  most  pleasing  legacies  of 
fancy. 

Dr.  Leyden,  who  exhausted  on  this  subject,  as 
upon  most  others,  a  profusion  of  learning,  found  the 
first  idea  of  the  Elfin  people  in  the  northern  opinions 
concerning  the  duergar,  or  dwarfs.*  These  were, 
however,  it  must  be  owned,  spirits  of  a  coarser  sort, 
more  laborious  vocation,  and  more  malignant  tem¬ 
per,  and  in  all  respects  less  propitious  to  humanity, 
than  the  fairies,  properly  so  called,  which  were  the 
invention  of  the  Celtic  people,  and  displayed  that 
superiority  of  taste  and  fancy,  which,  with  the  love  ot 
music  and  poetry,  has  been  generally  ascribed  to  their 
race,  through  its  various  classes  and  modifications. 

*  See  the  Essay  on  the  Fairy  Superstition,  in  the  “  Minstrelsy’of  the 
Scottish  Border,”  of  which  many  of  the  materials  were  contributed  by 
Dr.  Leyden,  and  the  whole  brought  into  its  present  form  by  the  author 

K 


110 


LETTERS  ON 


.  In  fact,  there  seems  reason  to  conclude  that  these 
duergar  were  originally  nothing  else  than  the  dimi¬ 
nutive  natives  of  the  Lappish,  Lettish,  and  Finnish 
nations,  Mdio,  flying  before  the  conquering  weapons 
of  the  Asse,  sought  the  most  retired  regions  of  the 
north,  and  there  endeavoured  to  hide  themselves 
from  their  eastern  invaders.  They  were  a  little, 
diminutive  race,  but  possessed  of  some  skill  probably 
in  mining  or  smelting  minerals,  with  which  the 
country  abounds ;  perhaps  also  they  might,  from 
their  acquaintance  with  the  changes  of  the  clouds, 
or  meteorological  phenomena,  be  judges  of  weather, 
and  so  enjoy  another  title  to  supernatural  skill.  At 
any  rate,  it  has  been  plausibly  supposed,  that  these 
poor  people,  who  sought  caverns  and  hiding-places 
from  the  persecution  of  the  Asfe,  were  in  some  re¬ 
spects  compensated  for  inferiority  in  strength  and 
stature,  by  the  art  and  power  with  which  the  super¬ 
stition  of  the  enemy  invested  them.  These  op¬ 
pressed  yet  dreaded  fugitives  obtained,  naturally 
enough,  the  character  of  the  German  spirits  called 
Kobold,  from  which  the  English  Goblin  and  the 
Scottish  Bogle,  by  some  inversion  and  alteration  of 
pronunciation,  are  evidently  derived. 

The  Kobolds  were  a  species  of  gnomes,  who 
haunted  the  dark  and  solitary  places,  and  were  often 
seen  in  the  mines,  where  they  seemed  to  imitate  the 
labours  of  the  miners,  and  sometimes  took  pleasure 
in  frustrating  their  objects,  and  rendering  their  toi. 
unfruitful.  Sometimes  they  were  malignant,  espe¬ 
cially  if  neglected  or  insulted ;  but  sometimes  also 
they  were  indulgent  to  individuals  whom  they  took 
under  their  protection.  When  a  miner,  therefore,  hit 
upon  a  rich  vein  of  ore,  the  inference  commonly  was, 
not  that  he  possessed  more  skill,  industry,  or  even 
luck  than  his  fellow-workmen,  but  that  the  spirits 
of  the  mine  had  directed  him  to  the  treasure.  The 
employment  and  apparent  occupation  of  these  sub¬ 
terranean  gnomes,  or  fiends,  led  very  naturally  to 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


Ill 


identify  the  Fin,  or  Laplander,  with  the  Kobold ;  but 
it  was  a  bolder  stretch  of  the  imagination,  which 
confounded  this  reserved  and  sullen  race  with  the 
livelier  and  gayer  spirit  which  bears  correspondence 
With  the  British  fairy.  Neither  can  we  be  surprised 
that  the  Duergar,  ascribed  by  many  persons  to  this 
source,  should  exhibit  a  darker  and  more  malignant 
character  than  the  elves  that  revel  by  moonlight  in 
more  southern  climates. 

According  to  the  old  Norse  belief,  these  dwarfs 
form  the  current  machinery  of  the  northern  Sagas, 
and  their  inferiority  in  size  is  represented  as  com¬ 
pensated  by  skill  and  wisdom  superior  to  those  of 
ordinary  mortals.  In  the  Niebelungen-Lied,  one  of 
the  oldest  romances  of  Germany,  and  compiled,  it 
would  seem,  not  long  after  the  time  of  Attila,  Theo- 
dorick  of  Bern,  or  of  Verona,  figures  among  a  cycle 
of  champions,  over  whom  he  presides,  like  the  Charle- 
mag”e  of  France,  or  Arthur  of  England.  Among 
others  vanquished  by  him  is  the  Elf  King,  or  Dwarf 
Laurin,  whose  dwelling  was  in  an  enchanted  garden 
of  roses,  and  who  had  a  body-guard  of  giants,  a  sort 
of  persons  seldom  supposed  to  be  themselves  conju¬ 
rers.  He  becomes  a  formidable  opponent  to  Theo- 
dorick  and  his  chivalry;  but  as  he  attempted  by 
treachery  to  attain  the  victory,  he  is,  when  over¬ 
come,  condemned  to  fill  the  dishonourable  yet  ap¬ 
propriate  office  of  buffoon  and  juggler  at  the  court 
of  Verona.* 

Such  possession  of  supernatural  wisdom  is  still 
imputed,  by  the  natives  of  the  Orkney  and  Zetland 
islands,  to  the  people  called  Drows,  being  a  corrup 
tion  of  Duergar  or  dwarfs ,  and  who  may,  in  most 
other  respects,  be  identified  with  the  Caledonian 
fairies.  Lucas  Jacobson  Debes,  who  dates  Ins  de¬ 
scription  of  Feroe  from  his  Pathmos,  in  Thors-haven, 

*  See  an  abstract,  by  the  late  learned  Henry  Weber,  of  a  Lay  on  this 
subject  of  King  Laurin,  compiled  by  Ilenry  of  Osterdingen.  Northern 
Antiquities ,  Edinburgh,  1814 


112 


LETTERS  ON 


12th  March,  1670,  dedicates  a  long  chapter  to  the 
spectres  who  disturbed  his  congregation,  and  some¬ 
times  carried  off  his  hearers.  The  actors  in  these 
disturbances  he  states  to  be  the  Show,  or  Biergen - 
Trold,  i.  e.  the  spirits  of  the  woods  and  mountains, 
sometimes  called  subterranean  people,  and  adds,  they 
appeared  in  deep  caverns  and  among  horrid  rocks ; 
as  also,  that  they  haunted  the  places  where  murders, 
or  other  deeds  of  mortal  sin,  had  been  acted.  They 
appear  to  have  been  the  genuine  northern  dwarfs, 
or  Trows,  another  pronunciation  of  Trollds,  and  are 
considered  by  the  reverend  author  as  something  very 
little  better  than  actual  fiends. 

But  it  is  not  only,  or  even  chiefly,  to  the  Gothic 
race  that  we  must  trace  the  opinions  concerning  the 
elves  of  the  middle  ages ;  these,  as  already  hinted, 
were  deeply  blended  with  tlie  attributes  which  the 
Celtic  tribes  had,  from  the  remotest  ages,  ascribed 
to  their  deities  of  rocks,  valleys,  and  forests.  We 
have  already  observed,  what  indeed  makes  a  great 
feature  of  their  national  character,  that  the  power  of 
the  imagination  is  peculiarly  active  among  the  Celts, 
and  leads  to  an  enthusiasm  concerning  national 
music  and  dancing,  national  poetry  and  song,  the 
departments  in  which  fancy  most  readily  indnlges 
herself.  The  Irish,  the  Welsh,  the  Gael  or  Scottish 
Highlander,  all  tribes  of  Celtic  descent,  assigned  to 
the  men  of  peace,  good  neighbours,  or  by  whatever 
other  names  they  called  these  sylvan  pigmies,  more 
social  habits,  and  a  course  of  existence  far  more  gay, 
than  the  sullen  and  heavy  toils  of  the  more  satur¬ 
nine  Duergar.  Their  elves  did  not  avoid  the 
society  of  men,  though  they  behaved  to  those 
who  associated  with  them  with  caprice,  which 
rendered  it  dangerous  to  displease  them;  and  al¬ 
though  their  gifts  were  sometimes  valuable,  they 
were  usually  wantonly  given,  and  unexpectedly 
resumed. 

The  employment,  the  benefits,  the  amusements  of 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  113 

the  Fairy  court,  resembled  the  aerial  people  them¬ 
selves.  Their  government  was  always  represented 
as  monarchical.  A  King,  more  frequently  a  Queen, 
of  Fairies,  was  acknowledged ;  and  sometimes  both 
held  their  court  together.  Their  pageants  and  court 
entertainments  comprehended  all  that  the  imagination 
could  conceive  of  what  was,  by  that  age,  accounted 
gallant  and  splendid.  At  their  processions,  they 
paraded  more  beautiful  steeds  than  those  of  mere 
earthly  parentage — the  hawks  and  hounds  which  they 
employed  in  their  chase  were  of  the  first  race.  At 
their  daily  banquets,  the  board  was  set  forth  with  a 
splendour  which  the  proudest  kings  of  the  earth 
dared  not  aspire  to ;  and  the  hall  of  their  dancers 
echoed  to  the  most  exquisite  music.  But  when 
viewed  by  the  eye  of  a  seer  the  illusion  vanished. 
The  young  knights  and  beautiful  ladies  showed  them¬ 
selves  as  wrinkled  carles  and  odious  hags — their 
wealth  turned  into  slate-stones — their  splendid  plate 
into  pieces  of  clay  fantastically  twisted — and  their 
victuals,  unsavoured  by  salt  (prohibited  to  them,  we 
are  told,  because  an  emblem  of  eternity),  became 
tasteless  and  insipid — the  stately  halls  were  turned 
into  miserable  damp  caverns — all  the  delights  of  the 
Elfin  Elysium  vanished  at  once.  In  a  word,  their 
pleasures  were  showy,  but  totally  unsubstantial — 
their  activity  unceasing,  but  fruitless  and  unavailing 
— and  their  condemnation  appears  to  have  consisted 
in  the  necessity  of  maintaining  the  appearance  of 
constant  industry  or  enjoyment,  though  their  toil 
was  fruitless,  and  their  pleasures  shadowy  and  un¬ 
substantial.  Hence  poets  have  designed  them  as 
“  the  crew  that  never  rest."  Besides  the  unceasing 
and  useless  bustle  in  which  these  spirits  seemed  to 
live,  they  had  propensities  unfavourable  and  distress¬ 
ing  to  mortals. 

One  injury  of  a  very  serious  nature  was  supposed 
to  be  constantly  practised  by  the  fairies  against  “  the 
human  mortals,”  that  of  carrying  off  their  children, 

K  2 


114 


LETTERS  ON 


and  breeding  them  as  beings  of  their  race.  Uil- 
christened  infants  were  chiefly  exposed  to  this  cala¬ 
mity  ;  but  adults  were  also  liable  to  be  abstracted 
from  earthly  commerce,  notwithstanding  it  was  theii 
natural  sphere.  With  respect  to  the  first,  it  may  be 
easily  conceived  that  the  want  of  the  sacred  cere, 
mony  of  introduction  into  the  Christian  Church  ren¬ 
dered  them  the  more  obnoxious  to  the  power  of  those 
creatures,  who,  if  not  to  be  in  all  respects  considered 
as  fiends,  had,  nevertheless,  considering  their  con¬ 
stant  round  of  idle  occupation,  little  right  to  rank 
themselves  among  good  spirits,  and  were  accounted 
by  most  divines  as  belonging  to  a  very  different  class. 
An  adult,  on  the  other  hand,  must  have  been  engaged 
in  some  action  which  exposed  him  to  the  power  of 
the  spirits,  and  so,  as  the  legal  phrase  went,  “  taken 
in  the  manner.”  Sleeping  on  a  Fairy  mount,  within 
which  the  Fairy  court  happened  to  be  held  for  the 
time,  was  a  very  ready  mode  of  obtaining  a  passport 
for  Elfland.  It  was  well  for  the  individual  if  the 
irate  elves  were  contented,  on  such  occasions,  with 
transporting  him  through  the  air  to  a  city  at  some 
forty  miles  distance,  and  leaving,  perhaps,  his  hat  or 
bonnet  on  some  steeple  between,  to  mark  the  direct 
line  of  his  course.  Others,  when  engaged  in  some 
unlawful  action,  or  in  the  act  of  giving  way  to  some 
headlong  and  sinful  passion,  exposed  themselves  also 
to  become  inmates  of  Fairy  land. 

The  same  belief  on  these  points  obtained  in  Ire¬ 
land.  Glanville,  in  his  Eighteenth  Relation,  tells  us 
of  the  butler  of  a  gentleman,  a  neighbour  of  the  Earl 
of  Orrery,  who  was  sent  to  purchase  cards.  In 
crossing  the  fields,  he  saw  a  table  surrounded  by 
people  apparently  feasting  and  making  merry.  They 
rose  to  salute  him,  and  invited  him  to  join  in  their 
revel ;  but  a  friendly  voice  from  the  party  whispered 
in  his  ear,  “  Do  nothing  which  this  company  invite 
you  to.”  Accordingly,  when  he  refused  to  join  in 
feasting,  the  table  vanished,  and  the  company  began 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  115 

to  dance,  and  play  on  musical  instruments  ;  but  the 
butler  would  not  take  part  in  these  recreations. 
They  then  left  off  dancing,  and  betook  themselves 
to  work;  but  neither  in  this  would  the  mortal  join 
them.  He  was  then  left  alone  for  the  present ;  but 
in  spite  of  the  exertions  of  my  Lord  Orrery,  in 
spite  of  two  bishops  who  were  his  guests  at  the 
time,  in  spite  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Greatrix,  it  was 
all  they  could  do  to  prevent  the  butler  from  being 
carried  off  bodily  from  among  them  by  the  fairies, 
who  considered  him  as  their  lawful  prey.  They 
raised  him  in  the  air  above  the  heads  of  the  mortals, 
who  could  only  run  beneath,  to  break  his  fall  when 
they  pleased  to  let  him  go.  The  spectre  which  for¬ 
merly  advised  the  poor  man,  continued  to  haunt  him, 
and  at  length  discovered  himself  to  be  the  ghost  of 
an  acquaintance  who  had  been  dead  for  seven  years. 
“You  know,”  added  he,  “I  lived  a  loose  life,  and 
ever  since  have  I  been  hurried  up  and  down  in  a 
restless  condition,  with  the  company  you  saw,  and 
shall  be  till  the  day  of  judgment.”  He  added,  that 
if  the  butler  had  acknowledged  God  in  all  his  ways, 
he  had  not  suffered  so  much  by  their  means ;  he  re¬ 
minded  him  that  he  had  not  prayed  to  God  in  the 
morning  before  he  met  with  this  company  in  the 
field,  and,  moreover,  that  he  was  then  going  on  an 
unlawful  business. 

It  is  pretended  that  Lord  Orrery  confirmed  the 
whole  of  this  story,  even  to  having  seen  the  butler 
raised  into  the  air  by  the  invisible  beings  who  strove 
to  carry  him  off.  Only  he  did  not  bear  witness  to 
the  passage  which  seems  to  call  the  purchase  of  cards 
an  unlawful  errand.* 

Individuals  whose  lives  have  been  engaged  in 
intrigues  of  politics  or  stratagems  of  war  were 
sometimes  surreptitiously  carried  off  to  Fairy  land 
as  Alison  Pearson,  the  sorceress  who  cured  Arch- 

•  Sadducismus  Triumphalug.  by  Joseph  Glanville.  Edinburgh. 
1700,  p.  131. 


116 


LETTERS  ON 


bishop  Adamson,  averred  that  she  had  recognised 
in  the  Fairy  court  the  celebrated  Secretary  Lething- 
ton,  and  the  old  Knight  of  Buccleuch,  the  one  of 
whom  had  been  the  most  busy  politician,  the  other 
one  of  the  most  unwearied  partisans  of  Queen  Mary, 
during  the  reign  of  that  unfortunate  Queen.  Upon 
the  whole,  persons  carried  off  by  sudden  death  were 
usually  suspected  of  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
fairies,  and  unless  redeemed  from  their  power,  which 
it  was  not  always  safe  to  attempt,  were  doomed  to 
conclude  their  lives  with  them.  We  must  not  omit 
to  state,  that  those  who  had  an  intimate  communica¬ 
tion  with  these  spirits,  while  they  were  yet  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  middle  earth,  were  most  apt  to  be  seized 
upon  and  carried  off  to  Elfland  before  their  death. 

The  reason  assigned  for  this  kidnapping  of  the  hu¬ 
man  race,  so  peculiar  to  the  elfin  people,  is  said  to  be 
that  they  wei  e  under  a  necessity  of  paying  to  the  infer- 
nal  regions  a  yearly  tribute  out  of  their  population, 
which  they  were  willing  to  defray  by  delivering  up  to 
the? prince  of  these  regions  the  children  of  the  human 
raA,  rather  than  their  own.  From  this  it  must  be 
inferred,  that  they  have  offspring  among  themselves, 
as  it  is  said  by  some  authorities,  and  particularly  by 
Mr.  Kirke,  the  minister  of  Aberfoyle.  He  indeed 
adds,  that,  after  a  certain  length  of  life,  these  spirits 
are  subject  to  the  universal  lot  of  mortality, — a 
position,  however,  which  has  been  controverted,  and 
is  scarcely  reconcilable  to  that  which  holds  them 
amenable  to  pay  a  tax  to  hell,  which  infers  exist¬ 
ence  as  eternal  as  the  fire  which  is  not  quenched. 
The  opinions  on  the  subject  of  the  fairy  people  here 
expressed,  are  such  as  are  entertained  in  the  High¬ 
lands,  and  some  remote  quarters  of  the  Lowlands, 
of  Scotland.  We  know,  from  the  lively  and  enter¬ 
taining  legends  published  by  Mr.  Crofton  Croker — 
which,  though  in  most  cases  told  with  the  wit  of 
the  editor  and  the  humour  of  his  country,  contain 
points  of  curious  antiquarian  information — that  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  117 

opinions  of  the  Irish  are  conformable  to  the  account 
we  have  given  of  the  general  creed  of  the  Celtic 
nations  repecting  elves.  If  the  Irish  elves  are  any¬ 
wise  distinguished  from  those  of  Britain,  it  seems 
to  be  by  their  disposition  to  divide  into  factions,  and 
fight  among  themselves — a  pugnacity  characteristic 
of  the  Green  Isle.  The  Welsh  fairies,  according  to 
John  Lewis,  barrister-at-law,  agree  in  the  same 
general  attributes  with  those  of  Ireland  and  Britain, 
We  must  not  omit  the  creed  of  the  Manxmen,  since 
we  find,  from  the  ingenious  researches  of  Mr.  Wal¬ 
dron,  that  the  Isle  of  Man,  beyond  other  places  in 
Britain,  was  a  peculiar  depository  of  the  fairy  tradi¬ 
tions,  which,  on  the  island  being  conquered  by  the 
Norse,  became  in  all  probability  checkered  with 
those  of  Scandinavia,  from  a  source  peculiar  and 
more  direct  than  that  by  which  they  reached  Scot¬ 
land  or  Ireland. 

Such  as  it  was,  the  popular  system  of  the  Celts 
easily  received  the  northern  admixture  of  Drows 
and  Duergar,  which  gave  the  belief,  perhaps,  a 
darker  colouring  than  originally  belonged  to  the 
British  Fairy  land.  It  was  from  the  same  source  also, 
in  all  probability,  that  additional  legends  were  ob¬ 
tained,  of  a  gigantic  and  malignant  female,  the 
Hecate  of  this  mythology,  who  rode  on  the  storm, 
and  marshalled  the  rambling  host  of  wanderers  under 
her  grim  banner.  This  hag  (in  all  respects  the 
reverse  of  the  Mab  or  Titania  of  the  Celtic  creed), 
was  called  Nicneven,  in  that  latter  system  which 
blended  the  faith  of  the  Celts  and  of  the  Goths  on  this 
subject.  The  great  Scottish  poet  Dunbar  has  made 
a  spirited  description  of  this  Hecate  riding  at  the 
head  of  witches  and  good  neighbours  (fairies, 
namely),  sorceresses  and  elves,  indifferently,  upon 
the  ghostly  eve  of  All-Hallow  Mass.*  In  Italy  we 
hear  of  the  hags  arraying  themselves  under  the  orders 


*  See  Flyiing  of  Dunbar  and  Kennedy, 


118 


LETTERS  ON 


of  Diana  (in  her  triple  character  of  Hecate,  doubt¬ 
less),  and  Herodias,  who  were  the  joint  leaders  of 
their  choir.  But  we  return  to  the  more  simple  fairy 
belief,  as  entertained  by  the  Celts  before  they  were 
conquered  by  the  Saxons. 

Of  these  early  times  we  can  know  little ;  but  it  is 
singular  to  remark  what  light  the  traditions  of  Scot¬ 
land  throw  upon  the  poetry  of  the  Britons  of  Cum¬ 
berland,  then  called  Reged.  Merlin  Wyllt,  or  the 
wild,  is  mentioned  by  both;  and  that  renowned 
wizard  the  son  of  an  elf,  or  fairy,  with  King  Arthur, 
the  dubious  champion  of  Britain  at  that  early  period, 
were  both  said  by  tradition  to  have  been  abstracted 
by  the  fairies,  and  to  have  vanished,  without  having 
suffered  death,  just  at  the  time  when  it  was  sup¬ 
posed,  that  the  magic  of  the  wizard,  and  the  cele¬ 
brated  sword  of  the  monarch,  which  had  done  so 
much  to  preserve  British  independence,  could  no 
longer  avert  the  impending  ruin.  It  may  be  con¬ 
jectured  that  there  was  a  desire  on  the  part  of 
Arthur,  or  his  surviving  champions,  to  conceal  his 
having  received  a  mortal  wound  in  the  fatal  battle 
of  Camlan  ;  and  to  that  we  owe  the  wild  and  beau¬ 
tiful  incident  so  finely  versified  by  Bishop  Percy,  in 
which,  in  token  of  his  renouncing  in  future  the  use 
of  arms,  the  monarch  sends  his  attendant,  sole  sur- 
viver  of  the  field,  to  throw  his  sword,  Excalibar,  into 
the  lake  hard  by.  Twice  eluding  the  request,  the 
esquire  at  last  complied,  and  threw  the  far-famed 
weapon  into  the  lonely  meer.  A  hand  and  arm  arose 
from  the  water  and  caught  Excalibar  by  the  hilt, 
flourished  it  thrice,  and  then  sank  into  the  lake.* 
The  astonished  messenger  returned  to  his  master  to 
tell  him  of  the  marvels  he  had  seen,  but  he  only  saw 
a  boat  at  a  distance  push  from  the  land,  and  heard 
shrieks  of  females  in  agony : — 


*  See  Percy’s  Relics  of  Ancient  English  Poetry. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  119 

“  And  whether  the  King  was  there  or  not 
He  never  knew,  he  never  eolde, 

For  never  since  that  doleful  day 
Was  British  Arthur  seen  on  molde.” 

The  circumstances  attending  the  disappearance  of 
Merlin  would  probably  be  found  as  imaginative  as 
those  of  Arthur’s  removal,  but  they  cannot  be  reco¬ 
vered;  and,  what  is  singular  enough,  circumstances 
which  originally  belonged  to  the  history  of  this 
famous  bard,  said  to  be  the  son  of  the  Demon  himself, 
have  been  transferred  to  a  later  poet,  and  surely  one 
of  scarce  inferior  name,  Thomas  of  Erceldoune.  The 
legend  was  supposed  to  be  only  preserved  among 
the  inhabitants  of  his  native  valleys,  but  a  copy  as 
old  as  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  has  been  recovered. 
The  story  is  interesting  and  beautifully  told,  and,  as 
one  of  the  oldest  fairy  legends,  may  well  be  quoted 
in  this  place. 

Thomas  of  Erceldoune,  in  Lauderdale,  called  the 
Rhymer,  on  account  of  his  producing  a  poetical 
romance  on  the  subject  of  Tristrem  and  Yseult, 
which  is  curious  as  the  earliest  specimen  of  English 
verse  known  to  exist,  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Alex¬ 
ander  III.  of  Scotland.  Like  other  men  of  talent  of 
the  period,  Thomas  was  suspected  of  magic.  He 
was  said  also  to  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  which 
was  accounted  for  in  the  following  peculiar  manner, 
referring  entirely  to  the  Elfin  superstition.  As  True 
Thomas  (we  give  him  the  epithet  by  anticipation) 
lay  on  Huntley  bank,  a  place  on  the  descent  of  the 
Eildon  hills,  which  raise  their  triple  crest  above  the 
celebrated  monastery  of  Melrose,  he  saw  a  lady  so 
extremely  beautiful  that  he  imagined  it  must  be  the 
Virgin  Mary  herself.  Her  appointments,  however, 
were  those  rather  of  an  Amazon  or  goddess  of  the 
woods.  Her  steed  was  of  the  highest  beauty  and 
spirit,  and  at  his  mane  hung  thirty  silver  bells  and 
nine,  which  made  music  to  the  wind  as  she  paced 
along:  her  saddle  was  of  royal  bone  (ivory),  laid 


120 


LETTERS  ON 


over  with  orfeverie,  i.  e.  goldsmith’s  work :  her  stir¬ 
rups,  her  dress,  all  corresponded  with  her  extreme 
beauty  and  the  magnificence  of  her  array.  The  fair 
huntress  had  her  bow  in  hand,  and  her  arrows  at 
her  belt.  She  led  three  greyhounds  in  a  leash,  and 
three  raches,  or  hounds  of  scent,  followed  her  closely. 
She  rejected  and  disclaimed  the  homage  which 
Thomas  desired  to  pay  to  her;  so  that,  passing 
from  one  extremity  to  the  other,  Thomas  became  as 
bold  as  he  had  at  first  been  bumble.  The  lady  warns 
him  that  he  must  become  her  slave,  if  he  should 
prosecute  his  suit  towards  her  in  the  manner  he  pro¬ 
poses.  Before  their  interview  terminates,  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  the  beautiful  lady  is  changed  into  that  of  the 
most  hideous  hag  in  existence  ;  one  side  is  blighted 
and  wasted,  as  if  by  palsy ;  one  eye  drops  from  her 
head ;  her  colour,  as  clear  as  the  virgin  silver,  is  now 
of  a  dun  leaden  hue.  A  witch  from  the  spital  or 
almshouse  would  have  been  a  goddess  in  comparison 
to  the  late  beautiful  huntress.  Hideous  as  she  was, 
Thomas’s  irregular  desires  had  placed  him  under  the 
control  of  this  hag,  and  when  she  bade  him  take 
leave  of  sun,  and  of  the  leaf  that  grew  on  tree,  he  felt 
himself  under  the  necessity  of  obeying  her.  A  ca¬ 
vern  received  them,  in  which,  following  his  frightful 
guide,  he  for  three,  days  travelled  in  darkness,  some¬ 
times  hearing  the  booming  of  a  distant  ocean,  some¬ 
times  walking  through  rivers  of  blood,  which  crossed 
their  subterranean  path.  At  length,  they  emerged 
into  daylight,  in  a  most  beautiful  orchard.  Thomas, 
almost  fainting  for  want  of  food,  stretches  out  his 
hand  towards  the  goodly  fruit  which  hangs  around 
him,  but  is  forbidden  by  his  conductress,  who  informs 
him  these  are  the  fatal  apples  which  were  the  cause 
of  the  fall  of  man.  He  perceives  also  that  his  guide 
had  no  sooner  entered  this  mysterious  ground,  and 
breathed  its  magic  air,  than  she  was  revived  in  beauty, 
equipage,  and  splendour,  as  fair  or  fairer  than  he  had 
first  seen  her  on  the  mountain.  She  then  commands 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  121 

him  to  lay  his  head  upon  her  knee,  and  proceeds  to 
explain  to  him  the  character  of  the  country.  “  Yon¬ 
der  right-hand  path,”  she  says,  “  conveys  the  spirits 
of  the  bless’d  to  paradise ;  yon  downward  and  well- 
worn  way  leads  sinful  souls  to  the  place  of  ever¬ 
lasting  punishment ;  the  third  road,  by  yonder  dark 
brake,  conducts  to  the  milder  place  of  pain,  from 
which  prayer  and  mass  may  release  offenders.  But 
see  you  yet  a  fourth  road,  sweeping  along  the  plain 
to  yonder  splendid  castle  1  yonder  is  the  road  to 
Elfland,  to  which  we  are  now  bound.  The  lord  of 
the  castle  is  king  of  the  country,  and  I  am  his  queen. 
But,  Thomas,  I  would  rather  be  drawn  with  wild 
horses,  than  he  should  know  what  hath  passed  be¬ 
tween  you  and  me.  Therefore,  when  we  enter 
yonder  castle,  observe  strict  silence,  and  answer  no 
question  that  is  asked  at  you,  and  I  will  account  for 
your  silence  by  saying  I  took  your  speech  when  I 
brought  you  from  middle  earth.” 

Having  thus  instructed  her  lover,  they  journeyed 
on  to  the  castle,  and  entering  by  the  kitchen,  found 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  such  a  festive  scene  as 
might  become  the  mansion  of  a  great  feudal  lord  or 
prince.  Thirty  carcasses  of  deer  were  lying  on  the 
massive  kitchen  board,  under  the  hands  of  numerous 
cooks,  who  toiled  to  cut  them  up  and  dress  them, 
while  the  gigantic  greyhounds  which  had  taken  the 
spoil  lay  lapping  the  blood,  and  enjoying  the  sight  of 
the  slain  game.  They  came  next  to  the  royal  hall, 
where  the  king  received  his  loving  consort  without 
censure  or  suspicion.  Knights  and  ladies,  dancing 
by  threes  (reels,  perhaps),  occupied  the  floor  of  the 
hall,  and  Thomas,  the  fatigues  of  his  journey  from 
the  Eildon  hills  forgotten,  went  forward  and  joined 
in  the  revelry.  After  a  period,  however,  which 
seemed  to  him  a  very  short  one,  the  queen  spoke  with 
him  apart,  and  bade  him  prepare  to  return  to  his  own 
country.  “  Now,”  said  the  queen,  “  how  long  think 
you  that  you  have  been  here  V' — “  Certes,  fair  lady,” 


122 


LEXTERS  ON 


answered  Thomas,  “  not  above  these  seven  days.”—’ 
“  You  are  deceived,”  answered  the  queen,  “  you  have 
been  seven  years  in  this  castle  ;  and  it  is  full  time  you 
were  gone.  Know,  Thomas,  that  the  fiend  of  hell 
will  come  to  this  castle  to-morrow  to  demand  his  tri¬ 
bute,  and  so  handsome  a  man  as  you  will  attract  his 
eye.  For  all  the  world  would  I  not  suffer  you  to  be  be¬ 
trayed  to  such  a  fate ;  therefore  up,  and  let  us  be 
going.”  These  terrible  news  reconciled  Thomas  to 
his  departure  from  Elfin  land,  and  the  queen  was  not 
long  in  placing  him  upon  Huntly  bank,  where  the 
birds  were  singing.  She  took  a  tender  leave  of  him, 
and  to  ensure  his  reputation,  bestowed  on  him  the 
tongue  which  could  not  lie.  Thomas  in  vain  objected 
to  this  inconvenient  and  involuntary  adhesion  to  ve¬ 
racity,  which  would  make  him,  as  he  thought,  unfit 
for  church  or  for  market,  for  king’s  court  or  for  lady’s 
bower.  But  all  his  remonstrances  were  disregarded 
by  the  lady,  and  Thomas  the  Rhymer,  whenever  the 
discourse  turned  on  the  future,  gained  the  credit  of 
a  prophet  whether  he  would  or  not ;  for  he  could  say 
nothing  but  what  was  sure  to  come  to  pass,  it  is 
plain,  that  had  Thomas  been  a  legislator  instead  of 
a  poet,  we  have  here  the  story  of  Numa  and  Egerfa. 

Thomas  remained  several  years  in  his  own  tower 
near  Erceldoune,  and  enjoyed  the  fame  of  his  pre¬ 
dictions,  several  of  which  are  current  among  the 
country  people  to  this  day.  At  length,  as  the  pro¬ 
phet  was  entertaining  the  Earl  of  March  in  his 
dwelling,  a  cry  of  astonishment  arose  in  the  village, 
on  the  appearance  of  a  hart  and  hind,*  which  left 
the  forest,  and,  contrary  to  their  shy  nature,  came 
quietly  onward,  traversing  the  village  towards  the 
dwelling  of  Thomas.  The  prophet  instantly  rose 
from  the  board  ;  and,  acknowledging  the  prodigy  as 
the  summons  of  his  fate,  he  accompanied  the  hart 

*  This  last  circumstance  seems  imitated  from  a  passage  in  the  Life 
of  Metlin,  by  Jeffrey  of  Monmouth.  See  Ellis’s  Ancient  Romances, 
vol.  i.  p.  73. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  123 

®nd  hind  into  the  forest,  and  though  occasionally 
seen  by  individuals  to  whom  he  has  chosen  to  show 
himself,  has  never  again  mixed  familiarly  with 
mankind. 

Thomas  of  Erceldoune,  during  his  retirement, 
has  been  supposed,  from  time  to  time,  to  be  levying 
forces  to  take  the  field  in  some  crisis  of  his  country’s 
fate.  The  story  has  often  been  told,  of  a  daring 
horse-jockey  having  sold  a  black  horse  to  a  man  of 
venerable  and  antique  appearance,  who  appointed 
the  remarkable  hillock  upon  Eildon  hills,  called  the 
Lucken  hare,  as  the  place  where,  at  twelve  o’clock 
at  night,  he  should  receive  the  price.  He  came, 
his  money  was  paid  in  ancient  coin,  and  he  was  in¬ 
vited  by  his  customer  to  view  his  residence.  The 
trader  in  horses  followed  his  guide  in  the  deepest 
astonishment  through  several  long  ranges  of  stalls, 
in  each  of  which  a  horse  stood  motionless,  while  an 
armed  warrior  lay  equally  still  at  the  charger’s  feet. 
“  All  these  men,”  said  the  wizard,  in  a  whisper, 
“  will  awaken  at  the  battle  of  Sheriffmoor.”  At 
the  extremity  of  this  extraordinary  depot  hung  a 
sword  and  a  horn,  which  the  prophet  pointed  out  to 
the  horse-dealer  as  containing  the  means  of  dis¬ 
solving  the  spell.  The  man  in  confusion  took  the 
horn,  and  attempted  to  wind  it.  The  horses  instantly 
started  in  their  stalls,  stamped,  and  shook  their  bri¬ 
dles,  the  men  arose  and  clashed  their  armour,  and 
the  mortal,  terrified  at  the  tumult  he  had  excited, 
dropped  the  horn  fronadiis  hand.  A  voice  like  that 
of  a  giant,  louder  even  than  the  tumult  around,  pro¬ 
nounced  these  words :  — 

“  Wo  to  the  coward  that  ever  he  was  bom, 

That  did  not  draw  the  sword  before  he  blew  the  horn  !” 

A  whirlwind  expelled  the  horse-dealer  from  the  ca¬ 
vern,  the  entrance  to  which  he  could  never  again 
find.  A  moral  might  be  perhaps  extracted  from  the 
legend, — namely,  that  it  is  best  to  be  armed  against 


124 


LETTERS  ON 


dangerbefore  bidding  it  defiance.  But  it  is  a  circum¬ 
stance  worth  notice,  that  although  this  edition  of 
the  tale  is  limited  to  the  year  1715,  by  the  very  men¬ 
tion  of  the  Sheriffmoor,  yet  a  similar  story  appears 
to  have  been  current  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  which  is  given  by  Reginald  Scot.  The 
narrative  is  edifying,  as  peculiarly  illustrative  of  the 
mode  of  marring  a  curious  tale  in  telling  it,  which 
was  one  of  the  virtues  professed  by  Caius  when 
he  hired  himself  to  King  Lear.  Reginald  Scot,  in¬ 
credulous  on  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  seems  to  have 
given  some  weight  to  the  belief  of  those  who  thought 
that  the  spirits  of  famous  men  do,  after  death,  take 
up  some  particular  habitations  near  cities,  towns, 
and  countries,  and  act  as  tutelary  and  guardian 
spirits  to  the  places  which  they  loved  while  in  the 
flesh. 

“  But  more  particularly  to  illustrate  this  conjec¬ 
ture,”  says  he,  “  I  could  name  a  person  who  hath 
lately  appeared  thrice  since  his  decease,  at  least 
some  ghostly  being  or  other  that  calls  itself  by  the 
name  of  such  a  person,  who  was  dead  above  a  hun¬ 
dred  years  ago,  and  was,  in  his  lifetime,  accounted 
as  a  prophet  or  predictor,  by  the  assistance  of  sub¬ 
lunary  spirits ;  and  now,  at  his  appearance,  did  also 
give  strange  predictions  respecting  famine  and  plenty, 
war  and  bloodshed,  and  the  end  of  the  world.  By 
the  information  of  the  person  that  had  communi¬ 
cation  with  him,  the  last  of  his  appearances  was  in 
the  following  manner.  “  I  had  been,”  said  he,  “  to 
sell  a  horse  at  the  next  market  town,  but  not  attaining 
my  price,  as  I  returned  home,  by  the  way  I  met  this 
man,  who  began  to  be  familiar  with  me,  asking  what 
news,  and  how  affairs  moved  through  the  country? 
I  answered  as  I  thought  fit ;  withal,  I  told  him  of  my 
horse,  whom  he  began  to  cheapen,  and  proceeded 
with  me  so  far,  that  the  price  was  agreed  upon.  So 
he  turned  back  with  me,  and  told  me  that  if  I  would 
go  along  with  him,  I  should  receive  my  money. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


125 


On  our  way  we  went,  I  upon  my  horse,  and  he  on  ano¬ 
ther  milk-white  beast.  Aftermuch travel,  I askedhim 
where  he  dwelt,  and  what  his  name  was  ?  He  told  me 
that  his  dwelling  was  a  mile  off  at  a  place  called  Far- 
ran,  of  which  place  I  had  never  heard,  though  I  knew 
all  the  country  round  about.*  He  also  told  me 
that  he  himself  was  that  person  of  the  family  of 
Learmonths,f  so  much  spoken  of  as  a  prophet.  At 
which  I  began  to  be  somewhat  fearful,  perceiving 
we  were  on  a  road  which  I  never  had  been  on  be¬ 
fore,  which  increased  my  fear  and  amazement  more. 
Well !  on  we  went  till  he  brought  me  under  ground, 
I  knew  not  how,  into  the  presence  of  a  beautiful  wo¬ 
man,  who  paid  the  money  without  a  word  speaking. 
He  conducted  me  out  again  through  a  large  and  long 
entry,  where  I  saw  above  six  hundred  men  in  ar¬ 
mour  laid  prostrate  on  the  ground,  as  if  asleep.  At 
last  I  found  myself  in  the  open  field,  by  the  help  of 
the  moonlight,  in  the  very  place  where  I  first  met 
him,  and  made  a  shift  to  get  home  by  three  in  the 
morning.  But  the  money  I  had  received  was  just 
double  of  what  I  esteemed  it  when  the  woman  paid 
me,  of  which,  at  this  instant,  I  have  several  pieces 
to  show,  consisting  of  ninepennies,  thirteen-pence- 
halfpennies,”  &c.J 

It  is  a  great  pity  that  this  horse-dealer,  having 
specimens  of  the  fairy  coin,  of  a  quality  more  per¬ 
manent  than  usual,  had  not  favoured  us  with  an  ac¬ 
count  of  an  impress  so  valuable  to  medallists.  It  is 
not  the  less  edifying,  as  we  are  deprived  of  the  more 
picturesque  parts  of  the  story,  to  learn  that  Thomas’s 
payment  was  as  faithful  as  his  prophecies.  The 

*  In  this  the  author  is  in  the  same  ignorance  as  his  namesake  Regi¬ 
nald,  though  having  at  least  as  many  opportunities  of  information. 

T  In  popular  tradition,  the  name  of  Thomas  the  Rhymer  was  always 
averred  to  be  Learmonth,  though  he  neither  uses  it  himself,  nor  is  do* 
scribed  by  his  son  other  than  Le  Rymour.  The  I.earmonths  of  Dairsie, 
in  Fife,  claimed  descent  from  the  prophet. 

t  Discourse  of  Devils  and  Spirits  appended  to  the  Discovery  of 
Witchcraft,  by  Reginald  Scot,  Esq.,  hook  iii.  chap.  ii.  $  19. 

L  2 


126 


LETTERS  ON 


beautiful  lady  who  bore  the  purse  must  have  been 
undoubtedly  the  Fairy  Queen,  whose  affection, 
though,  like  that  of  his  own  heroine  Yseult,  we 
cannot  term  it  altogether  laudable,  seems  yet  to 
have  borne  a  faithful  and  firm  character. 

I  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the  story  of 
Thomas  the  Rhymer,  as  the  oldest  tradition  of  the 
kind  which  has  reached  us  in  detail,  and  as  pretend¬ 
ing  to  show  the  fate  of  the  first  Scottish  poet,  whose 
existence,  and  its  date,  are  established  both  by  his¬ 
tory  and  records ;  and  who,  if  we  consider  him  as 
writing  in  the  Anglo-Norman  language,  was  cer¬ 
tainly  one  among  the  earliest  of  its  versifiers.  But 
the  legend  is  still  more  curious,  from  its  being  the 
first,  and  most  distinguished  instance,  of  a  man 
alleged  to  have  obtained  supernatural  knowledge  by 
means  of  the  fairies. 

Whence  or  how  this  singular  community  derived 
their  more  common  popular  name,  we  may  say  has 
not  as  yet  been  very  clearly  established.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  the  learned,  that  the  Persian  word  Peri, 
expressing  an  unearthly  being,  of  a  species  very 
similar,  will  afford  the  best  derivation,  if  we  suppose 
it  to  have  reached  Europe  through  the  medium  of 
the  Arabians,  in  whose  alphabet  the  letter  P  does 
not  exist,  so  that  they  pronounce  the  word  Feri  in¬ 
stead  of  Peri.  Still  there  is  something  uncertain  in 
this  etymology.  We  hesitate  to  ascribe,  either  to 
the  Persians  or  the  Arabians,  the  distinguishing 
name  of  an  ideal  commonwealth,  the  notion  of  which 
they  certainly  did  not  contribute  to  us.  Some  are, 
therefore,  tempted  to  suppose,  that  the  elves  may 
have  obtained  their  most  frequent  name  from  their 
being,  par  excellence ,  a  fair  or  comely  people,  a  qua¬ 
lity  which  they  affected  on  all  occasions ;  while  the 
superstition  of  the  Scottish  was  likely  enough  to 
give  them  a  name  which  might  propitiate  the  vanity 
for  which  they  deemed  the  race  remarkable;  just 
as,  in  other  instances,  they  called  the  fays  “men 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


127 


of  peace,”  “good  neighbours,”  and  by  other  titles 
of  the  like  import.  It  must  be  owned,  at  the  same 
time,  that  the  words  fay  and  fairy  may  have  been 
mere  adoptions  of  the  French  fee  and  f eerie,  though 
these  terms,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  have 
reference  to  a  class  of  spirits  corresponding,  not  to 
our  fairies,  but  with  the  far  different  Fata  of  the 
Italians.  But  this  is  a  question  which  we  willingly 
leave  for  the  decision  of  better  etymologists  than 
ourselves. 


LETTER  V. 

Those  who  dealt  in  Fortune-telling,  Mystical  Cures  by  Charms,  and  the 
like,  often  claimed  an  Intercourse  with  Fairy  Land— Hudhart  or 
Hudikin — Pitcairn’s  Scottish  Criminal  Trials — Story  of  Bessie  Dun¬ 
lop  and  her  Adviser — Her  Practice  of  Medicine — and  of  Discovery  of 
Theft — Account  of  her  Familiar,  Thome  Reid— Trial  of  Alison 
Pearson — Account  of  her  Familiar,  William  Sympson— Trial  of  the 
Lady  Fowlis,  and  of  Hector  Munro,  her  step-son— Extraordinary 
Species  of  Charm  used  by  the  latter — Confession  of  John  Stewart,  a 
Juggler,  of  his  Intercourse  with  the  Fairies — Trial  and  Confession 
of  Isobel  Gowdie — Use  of  Elf-arrow  Heads — Parish  of  Aberfoyle — 
Mr.  Kirke,  the  Minister  of  Aberfoyle’s  Work  on  Fairy  Superstitions 
— He  is  himself  taken  to  Fairyland — Dr.  Grahame’s  interesting 
Work,  and  his  Information  on  Fairy  Superstitions — Story  of  a 
Female  in  East  Lothian  carried  off  by  the  Fairies — Another  Instance 
from  Pennant 

To  return  to  Thomas  the  Rhymer,  with  an  ac¬ 
count  of  whose  legend  I  concluded  the  last  letter,  it 
would  seem,  that  the  example  which  it  afforded  of 
obtaining  the  gift  of  prescience,  and  other  super¬ 
natural  powers,  by  means  of  the  fairy  people,  be¬ 
came  the  common  apology  of  those  who  attempted 
■to  cure  diseases,  to  tell  fortunes,  to  revenge  injuries, 
or  to  engage  in  traffic  with  the  invisible  world,  for 
the  purpose  of  satisfying  their  own  wishes,  curiosity, 
or  revenge,  or  those  of  others.  Those  who  prac¬ 
tised  the  petty  arts  of  deception  in  such  mystic 


128 


LETTERS  OJT 


cases,  being  naturally  desirous  to  screen  their  own 
impostures,  were  willing  to  be  supposed  to  derive 
from  the  fairies,  or  from  mortals  transported  to  fairy¬ 
land,  the  power  necessary  to  effect  the  displays  of 
art  which  they  pretended  to  exhibit.  A  confession 
of  direct  communication  and  league  with  Satan, 
though  the  accused  were  too  frequently  compelled 
by  torture  to  admit  and  avow  such  horrors,  might, 
the  poor  wretches  hoped,  be  avoided,  by  the  avowal 
of  a  less  disgusting  intercourse  with  sublunary 
spirits,  a  race  which  might  be  described  by  nega¬ 
tives,  being  neither  angels,  devils,  nor  the  souls  of 
deceased  men;  nor  would  it,  they  might  flatter 
themselves,  be  considered  as  any  criminal  alliance, 
that  they  held  communion  with  a  race  not  properly 
hostile  to  man,  and  willing,  on  certain  conditions, 
to  be  useful  and  friendly  to  him.  Such  an  inter¬ 
course  was  certainly  far  short  of  the  witch’s  re¬ 
nouncing  her  salvation,  delivering  herself  personally 
to  the  devil,  and  at  once  ensuring  condemnation  in 
this  world,  together  with  the  like  doom  in  the  next. 

Accordingly,  the  credulous,  who,  in  search  of 
health,  knowledge,  greatness,  or  moved  by  any  of 
the  numberless  causes  for  which  men  seek  to  look 
into  futurity,  were  anxious  to  obtain  superhuman 
assistance,  as  well  as  the  numbers  who  had  it  in 
view  to  dupe  such  willing  clients,  became,  both 
cheated  and  cheaters,  alike  anxious  to  establish  the 
possibility  of  a  harmless  process  of  research  into 
futurity,  for  laudable  or  at  least  innocent  objects, 
as  healing  diseases,  and  the  like ;  in  short,  of  the 
existence  of  white  magic,  as  it  was  called,  in  op¬ 
position  to  that  black  art  exclusively  and  directly 
derived  from  intercourse  with  Satan.  Some  endea¬ 
voured  to  predict  a  man’s  fortune  in  marriage,  or  his 
success  in  life,  by  the  aspect  of  the  stars ;  others 
pretended  to  possess  spells,  by  which  they  could 
reduce  and  compel  an  elementary  spirit  to  enter 
within  a  stone,  a  looking-glass,  or  some  other  local 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


129 


place  of  abode,  and  confine  her  there  by  the  power 
of  an  especial  charm,  conjuring  her  to  abide  and 
answer  the  questions  of  her  master.  Of  these  we 
shall  afterward  say  something ;  but  the  species  of 
evasion  now  under  our  investigation  is  that  of  the 
fanatics  or  impostors,  who  pretended  to  draw  in¬ 
formation  from  the  equivocal  spirits  called  fairies ; 
and  the  number  of  instances  before  us  is  so  great  as 
induces  us  to  believe,  that  the  pretence  of  commu¬ 
nicating  with  Elfland,  and  not  with  the  actual  de¬ 
mon,  was  the  manner  in  which  the  persons  accused 
of  witchcraft  most  frequently  endeavoured  to  excuse 
themselves,  or  at  least  to  alleviate  the  charges 
brought  against  them  of  practising  sorcery.  But 
the  Scottish  law  did  not  acquit  those  who  accom¬ 
plished  even  praiseworthy  actions,  such  as  remark¬ 
able  cures,  by  mysterious  remedies ;  and  the  pro¬ 
prietor  of  a  patent  medicine,  w'ho  should  in  those 
days  have  attested  his  having  wrought  such  miracles 
as  we  see  sometimes  advertised,  might  perhaps  have 
forfeited  his  life  before  he  established  the  reputation 
of  his  drop,  elixir,  or  pill. 

Sometimes  the  soothsayers,  who  pretended  to  act 
on  this  information  from  sublunary  spirits,  soared 
to  higher  matters  than  the  practice  of  physic,  and 
interfered  in  the  fate  of  nations.  When  James  the 
First  was  murdered  at  Perth,  in  1437,  a  Highland 
woman  prophesied  the  course  and  purpose  of  the 
conspiracy,  and  had  she  been  listened  to,  it  might 
have  been  disconcerted.  Being  asked  her  source  of 
knowledge,  she  answered,  Hudhart  had  told  her; 
which  might  either  be  the  same  with  Hudikin,  a 
Dutch  spirit  somewhat  similar  to  Friar  Rush,  or 
Robin  Goodfellow,*  or  with  the  red-capped  demon 

*  “  Hudkin  is  a  very  familiar  devil,  who  will  do  nobody  hurt,  except 
he  receive  injury ;  but  he  cannot  abide  that,  nor  yet  be  mocked.  He 
lalketh  with  men  friendly,  sometimes  visibly,  sometimes  invisibly. 
There  go  as  many  tales  upon  this  Hudkin  in  some  parts  of  Germany,  as 
there  did  in  England  on  ltobin  Goodfellow. — Discourse  concerning 
Devils ,  annexed  to  The  Discovery  of  Witchcraft,  by  Reginald  Scot, 
book  i.  chap.  xxi. 


130 


LETTERS  ON 


so  powerful  in  the  case  of  Lord  Soulis,  and  other 
wizards,  to  whom  the  Scots  assigned  rather  more 
ferious  influence. 

The  most  special  account  which  I  have  found  of 
the  intercourse  between  fairyland  and  a  female  pro¬ 
fessing  to  have  some  influence  in  that  court,  com¬ 
bined  with  a  strong  desire  to  be  useful  to  the  distressed 
of  both  sexes,  occurs  in  the  early  part  of  a  work  to 
which  I  have  been  exceedingly  obliged  in  the  present 
and  other  publications.*  The  details  of  the  evidence, 
which  consists  chiefly  of  the  unfortunate  woman’s 
own  confession,  are  more  full  than  usual,  and  com¬ 
prehend  some  curious  particulars.  To  spare  techni¬ 
cal  repetitions,  I  must  endeavour  to  select  the  princi¬ 
pal  facts  in  evidence  in  detail  so  far  as  they  bear  upon 
the  present  subject. 

On  the  8th  November,  1576,  Elizabeth  or  Bessie 
Dunlop,  spouse  to  Andro  Jak,  in  Lyne,  in  the  Barony 
of  Dairy,  Ayrshire,  was  accused  of  sorcery  and 
witchcraft,  and  abuse  of  the  people.  Her  answers 
to  the  interrogatories  of  the  judges  or  prosecutors  ran 
thus.  It  being  required  of  her,  by  what  art  she  could 
tell  of  lost  goods,  or  prophesy  the  event  of  illness  ? 
she  replied,  that  of  herself  she  had  no  knowledge  or 
science  of  such  matters,  but  that  when  questions 
were  asked  at  her  concerning  such  matters,  she  was 
in  the  habit  of  applying  to  one  Thome  Reid,  who 
died  at  the  battle  of  Pinkie  (10th  September,  1547) 
as  he  himself  affirmed,  and  who  resolved  her  any 
questions  which  she  asked  at  him.  This  person  she 
described  as  a  respectable,  elderly-looking  man,  gray- 
bearded,  and  wearing  a  gray  coat,  with  Lombard 
sleeves,  of  the  auld  fasiiion.  A  pair  of  gray  breeches 
and  white  stockings  gartered  above  the  knee,  a  black 
bonnet  on  his  head,  close  behind  and  plain  before, 

*  The  curious  collection  of  Trials,  from  the  Criminal  Records  of  Scot¬ 
land,  now  in  the  course  of  publication,  by  Robert  Pitcairn,  Esq.  affords 
so  singular  a  picture  of  the  manners  and  habits  of  our  ancestors, 
while  yet  a  semibarbarous  people,  that  it  is  equally  worth  the  attention 
of  tlie  historian,  the  antiquary,  the  philosopher,  and  the  poet. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  131 

with  silken  laces  drawn  through  the  lips  thereof,  and 
a  white  wand  in  his  hand,  completed  the  description 
of  what  we  may  suppose  a  respectable-looking  man 
of  the  province  and  period.  Being  demanded  concern¬ 
ing  her  first  interview  with  this  mysterious  Thome 
Reid,  she  gave  rather  an  affecting  account  of  the  dis¬ 
asters  with  which  she  wras  then  afflicted,  and  a  sense 
of  which  perhaps  aided  to  conjure  up  the  imaginary 
counsellor.  She  was  walking  between  her  own 
house  and  the  yard  of  Monkcastle,  driving  her  cows 
to  the  common  pasture,  and  making  heavy  moan  with 
herself,  weeping  bitterly  for  her  cow  that  was  dead, 
her  husband  and  child  that  was  sick  of  the  land-ill 
(some  contagious  sickness  of  the  time),  while  she 
herself  was  in  a  very  infirm  state,  having  lately  borne 
a  child.  On  this  occasion,  she  met  Thome  Reid  for 
the  first  time,  who  saluted  her  courteously,  which  she 
returned.  “  Sancta  Maria,  Bessie !”  said  the  appari¬ 
tion  ;  “  why  must  thou  make  such  dole  and  weeping 
for  any  earthly  thing?” — “Have  I  not  reason  for 
great  sorrow,”  said  she,  “  since  our  property  is  going 
to  destruction,  my  husband  is  on  the  point  of  death, 
my  baby  will  not  live,  and  I  am  myself  at  a  weak 
point  ?  Have  I  not  cause  to  have  a  sore  heart  V’ — 
“  Bessie,”  answered  the  spirit,  “  thou  hast  displeased 
God  in  asking  something  that  thou  should  not,  and  I 
counsel  you  to  amend  your  fault.  I  tell  thee,  thy 
child  shall  die  ere  thou  get  home ;  thy  two  sheep  shail 
also  die,  but  thy  husband  shall  recover,  and  be  as  well 
and  feir  as  ever  he  was.”  The  good  woman  Avas 
something  comforted  to  hear  that  her  husband  Avas 
to  be  spared  in  such  her  general  calamity,  but  was 
rather  alarmed  to  see  her  ghostly  counsellor  pass  from 
her,  and  disappear  through  a  hole  in  the  garden  Avail, 
seemingly  too  narrow  to  admit  of  any  living  person 
passing  though  it.  Another  time  he  met  her  at  the 
Thom  of  DaAvmstamik,  and  shoAved  his  ultimate 
purpose,  by  offering  her  plenty  of  every  thing  if  she 
would  but  deny  Christendom,  and  the  faith  she  took 


132 


LETTERS  ON 


at  the  font-stone.  She  answered,  that  rather  than  do 
that  she  would  be  torn  at  horses’  heels,  but  that  she 
would  be  conformable  to  his  advice  in  less  matters. 
He  parted  with  her  in  some  displeasure.  Shortly 
afterward  he  appeared  in  her  own  house,  about  noon, 
which  was  at  the  time  occupied  by  her  husband  and 
three  tailors.  But  neither  Andro  Jak  nor  the  three 
tailors  were  sensible  of  the  presence  of  the  phantom 
warrior  who  was  slain  at  Pinkie ;  so  that  without  at¬ 
tracting  their  observation,  he  led  out  the  goodwife  to 
the  end  of  the  house  near  the  kiln.  Here  he  showed 
her  a  company  of  eight  women  and  four  men.  The 
women  were  busked  in  their  plaids,  and  very  seemly. 
The  strangers  saluted  her,  and  said,  “Welcome, 
Bessie;  wilt  thou  go  with  US'?”  But  Bessie  was 
silent,  as  Thome  Reid  had  previously  recommended. 
After  this  she  saw  their  lips  move,  but  did  not  under¬ 
stand  what  they  said ;  and  in  a  short  time  they  re¬ 
moved  from  thence  with  a  hideous  ugly  howling 
sound,  like  that  of  a  hurricane.  Thome  Reid  then 
acquainted  her  that  these  were  the  good  wights  (fai¬ 
ries)  dwelling  in  the  court  of  Elfland,  who  came  to 
invite  her  to  go  thither  with  them.  Bessie  answered, 
that  before  she  went  that  road,  it  would  require  some 
consideration.  Thome  answered,  “Seest  thou  not 
me  both  meat  worth,  clothes  worth,  and  well  enough 
in  person?”  and  engage  she  should  be  easier  than 
ever  she  was.  But,  she  replied,  she  dwelt  with  her 
husband  and  children,  and  would  not  leave  them;  to 
which  Thome  Reid  replied,  in  very  ill-humour,  that 
if  such  were  her  sentiments,  she  would  get  little 
good  of  him. 

Although  they  thus  diasgreed  on  the  principal  object 
of  Thome  Reid’s  visits,  BeSsie  Dunlop  affirmed  he 
continued  to  come  to  her  frequently,  and  assist  her 
with  his  counsel ;  and  that  ifApiy  one  consulted  her 
about  the  ailments  of  human  beings  or  of  cattle,  or 
the  recovery  of  things  lost  or  stolen,  she  was,  by  the 
advice  of  Thome  Reid,  always  able  to  answer  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  133 

querists.  She  was  also  taught  by  her  (literally  ghostly) 
adviser,  how  to  watch  the  operation  of  the  ointments 
he  gave  her,  and  to  presage  from  them  the  recovery  or 
death  of  the  patient.  She  said  that  Thome  gave  her 
herbs  with  his  own  hand,  with  which  she  cured  John 
Jack’s  bairn  and  Wilson’s  of  the  Townhead.  She 
also  was  helpful  to  a  waiting-woman  of  the  young 
Lady  Stanlie,  daughter  of  the  Lady  Johnstone,  whose 
disease,  according  to  the  opinion  of  the  infallible 
Thome  Reid,  was  “  a  cauld  blood  that  came  about 
her  heart,”  and  frequently  caused  her  to  swoon  away. 
For  this  Thome  mixed  a  remedy  as  generous  as  the 
Balm  of  Gilead  itself.  It  was  composed  of  the  most 
potent  ale,  concocted  with  spices  and  a  little  white 
sugar,  to  be  drunk  every  morning  before  taking  food. 
For  these  prescriptions  Bessie  Dunlop’s  fee  was  a 
peck  of  meal  and  some  cheese.  The  young  woman 
recovered.  But  the  poor  old  Lady  Kilbowie  could 
get  no  help  for  her  leg,  which  had  been  crooked  for 
years ;  for  Thome  Reid  said  the  marrow  of  the  limb 
was  perished  and  the  blood  benumbed,  so  that  she 
would  never  recover,  and  if  she  sought  farther  assist^ 
ance,  it  would  be  the  worse  for  her.  These  opinions 
indicate  common  sense  and  prudence  at  least,  whether 
we  consider  them  as  originating  with  the  umquhile 
Thome  Reid,  or  with  the  culprit  whom  he  patronised. 
The  judgments  given  in  the  case  of  stolen  goods 
were  also  well  chosen ;  for  though  they  seldom  led 
to  recovering  the  property,  they  generally  alleged 
such  satisfactory  reasons  for  its  not  being  found,  as 
effectually  to  cover  the  credit  of  the  prophetess.  Thus 
Hugh  Scott’s  cloak  could  not  be  returned,  because 
the  thieves  had  gained  time  to  make  it  into  a  kirtle. 
J ames  Jamieson  and  J  ames  Baird  would,by  hei  advice, 
have  recovered  their  plough-irons  which  had  been 
stolen,  had  it  not  been  the  will  of  fate  that  William 
Dougal,  sheriff’s  officer,  one  of  the  parties  searching 
for  them,  should  accept  a  bribe  of  three  pounds  not 
to  find  them.  In  short,  although  she  lost  a  lace  which 

M 


134 


LETTERS  ON 


Thome  Reid  gave  her  out  of  his  own  hand,  which, 
tied  round  women  in  childbirth,  had  the  power  of 
helping  their  delivery,  Bessie  Dunlop’s  profession  of 
a  wise  woman  seems  to  have  flourished  indifferently 
well  till  it  drew  the  evil  eye  of  the  law  upon  her. 

More  minutely  pressed  upon  the  subject  of  her 
familiar,  she  said  she  had  never  known  him  while 
among  the  living,  but  was  aware  that  the  person  so 
calling  himself  was  one  who  had,  in  his  lifetime,  ac¬ 
tually  been  known  in  middle  earth  as  Thome  Reid, 
officer  to  the  Laird  of  Blair,  and  who  died  at  Pinkie. 
Of  this  she  was  made  certain,  because  he  sent  her  on 
errands  to  his  son,  who  had  succeeded  in  his  office, 
and  to  others,  his  relatives,  whom  he  named,  and 
commanded  them  to  amend  certain  trespasses  which 
he  had  done  while  alive,  furnishing  her  with  sure 
tokens  by  which  they  should  know  that  it  was  he 
who  had  sent  her.  One  of  these  errands  was  some¬ 
what  remarkable.  She  was  to  remind  a  neighbour 
of  some  particular  which  she  Avas  to  recall  to  his 
memory  by  the  token,  that  Thome  Reid  and  he  had 
set  out  together  to  go  to  the  battle  which  took  place 
on  the  Black  Saturday ;  that  the  person  to  whom  the 
message  was  sent,  was  inclined  rather  to  move  in  a 
different  direction,  but  that  Thome  Reid  heartened 
him  to  pursue  his  journey,  and  brought  him  to  the 
Kirk  of  Dairy,  where  he  bought  a  parcel  of  figs,  and 
made  a  present  of  them  to  his  companion,  tying  them 
in  his  handkerchief ;  after  which  they  kept  company 
till  they  came  to  the  field  upon  the  fatal  Black 
Saturday,  as  the  battle  of  Pinkie  was  long  called. 

Of  Thome’s  other  habits,  she  said  that  he  always 
behaved  with  the  strictest  propriety,  only  that  he 
pressed  her  to  go  to  Elfland  with  him,  and  took  hold 
of  her  apron  as  if  to*pull  her  along.  Again,  she  said 
she  had  seen  him  in  public  places,  both  in  the  church¬ 
yard  at  Dairy,  and  on  the  street  of  Edinburgh,  where 
he  walked  about  among  other  people,  and  handled 
goods  that  were  exposed  to  sale,  without  attracting 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  135 

any  notice.  She  herself  did  not  then  speak  to  him ; 
for  it  was  his  command  that,  upon  such  occasions, 
she  should  never  address  him,  unless  he  spoke  first 
to  her.  In  his  theological  opinions,  Mr.  Reid  ap¬ 
peared  to  lean  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  which,  indeed, 
was  most  indulgent  to  the  fairy  folk.  He  said  that 
the  new  law,  i.  e.  the  Reformation,  was  not  good,  and 
that  the  old  faith  should  return  again,  but  not  exactly 
as  it  had  been  before.  Being  questioned  why  this 
visionary  sage  attached  himself  to  her  more  than 
to  others,  the  accused  person  replied,  that  when  she 
was  confined  in  childbirth  of  one  of  her  boys,  a  stout 
woman  came  into  her  hut,  and  sat  down  on  a  bench 
by  her  bed,  like  a  mere  earthly  gossip ;  that  she  de¬ 
manded  a  drink,  and  was  accommodated  accordingly; 
and  thereafter  told  the  invalid  that  the  child  should 
die,  but  that  her  husband,  who  was  then  ailing,  should 
recover.  This  visit  seems  to  have  been  previous  to 
her  meeting  Thome  Reid  near  Monkcastle  garden, 
for  that  worthy  explained  to  her  that  her  stout 
visitant  was  Queen  of  Fairies,  and  that  he  had  since 
attended  her  by  the  express  command  of  that  lady, 
his  queen  and  mistress.  This  reminds  us  of  the  ex¬ 
treme  doting  attachment  which  the  Queen  of  the 
Fairies  is  represented  to  have  taken  for  Dapper,  in 
the  Alchymist.  Thome  Reid  attended  her,  it  would 
seem,  on  being  summoned  thrice,  and  appeared  to 
her  very  often  within  four  years.  He  often  requested 
her  to  go  with  him  on  his  return  to  fairyland,  and 
when  she  refused,  he  shook  his  head,  and  said  she 
would  repent  it. 

If  the  delicacy  of  the  reader’s  imagination  be  a 
little  hurt  at  imagining  the  elegant  Titania  in  the 
disguise  of  a  stout  woman,  a  heavy  burden  for  a 
clumsy  bench,  drinking  what  Christopher  Sly  would 
have  called  very  sufficient  small-beer  with  a  peasant’s 
wife,  the  following  description  of  the  fairy  host  may 
come  more  near  the  idea  he  has  formed  of  that  invi¬ 
sible  company.  Bessie  Dunlop  declared,  that  as  she 


136 


LETTERS  ON 


went  to  tether  her  nag  by  the  side  of  Restalrig  Loch 
(Lochend,  near  the  eastern  port  of  Edinburgh),  she 
heard  a  tremendous  sound  of  a  body  of  riders  rush¬ 
ing  past  her,  with  such  a  noise  as  if  heaven  and  earth 
would  come  together.  That  the  sound  swept  past 
her,  and  seemed  to  rush  into  the  lake  with  a  hideous 
rumbling  noise.  All  this  while  she  saw  nothing; 
but  Thome  Reid  showed  her  that  the  noise  was  oc¬ 
casioned  by  the  wights,  who  were  performing  one 
of  their  cavalcades  upon  earth. 

The  intervention  of  Thome  Reid,  as  a  partner  in 
her  trade  of  petty  sorcery,  did  not  avail  poor  Bessie 
Dunlop,  although  his  affection  to  her  was  apparently 
entirely  Platonic, — the  greatest  familiarity  on  which 
he  ventured  was  taking  hold  of  her  gown  as  he 
pressed  her  to  go  with  him  to  Eifland.  Neither  did 
it  avail  her,  that  the  petty  sorcery  which  she  practised 
was  directed  to  venial  or  even  beneficial  purposes. 
The  sad  words  on  the  margin  of  the  record,  “  Con¬ 
vict  and  burned,’’  sufficiently  express  the  tragic  con¬ 
clusion  of  a  curious  tale. 

Alison  Pearson,  in  Byrehill,  was,  28th  May,  1588, 
tried  for  invocation  of  the  spirits  of  the  Devil,  spe¬ 
cially  in  the  vision  of  one  Mr.  William  Sympson, 
her  cousin,  and  her  mother’s  brother’s  son,  who,  she 
affirmed,  was  a  great  scholar  and  doctor  of  medicine, 
dealing  with  charms,  and  abusing  the  ignorant  peo¬ 
ple.  Against  this  poor  woman,  her  own  confession, 
as  in  the  case  of  Bessie  Dunlop,  was  the  principal 
evidence. 

As  Bessie  Dunlop  had  Thome  Reid,  Alison  Pearson 
had  also  a  familiar  in  the  court  of  Eifland.  This 
was  her  relative  William  Sympson  aforesaid,  born 
in  Stirling,  whose  father  was  king’s  smith  in  that 
town.  William  had  been  taken  away,  she  said,  by 
a  man  of  Egypt  (a  Gipsy),  who  carried  him  to  Egypt 
along  with  him.  That  he  remained  there  twelve 
years,  and  that  his  father  died  in  the  mean  time,  for 
opening  a  priest’s  book,  and  looking  upon  it.  She 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  137 

declared  that  she  had  renewed  her  acquaintance  with 
her  kinsman,  so  soon  as  he  returned.  She  farther 
confessed,  that  one  day,  as  she  passed  through 
Grange  Muir,  she  lay  down,  in  a  fit  of  sickness,  and 
that  a  green  man  came  to  her,  and  said,  if  she  would 
be  faithful,  he  might  do  her  good.  In  reply,  she 
charged  him,  in  the  name  of  God,  and  by  the  law  he 
lived  upon,  if  he  came  for  her  soul’s  good,  to  tell  his 
errand.  On  this  the  green  man  departed.  But  he 
afterward  appeared  to  her,  with  many  men  and 
women  with  him;  and,  against  her  will,  she  was 
obliged  to  pass  with  them  farther  than  she  could  tell, 
with  piping,  mirth,  and  good  cheer ;  also  that  she  ac¬ 
companied  them  into  Lothian,  where  she  saw 
puncheons  of  wine,  with  tasses,  or  drinking  cups. 
She  declared,  that  when  she  told  of  these  things,  she 
was  sorely  tormented,  and  received  a  blow  that  took 
away  the  power  of  her  left  side,  and  left  on  it  an 
ugly  mark,  which  had  no  feeling.  She  also  con¬ 
fessed  that  she  had  seen,  before  sunrise,  the  Good 
Neighbours  make  their  salves  with  pans  and  fires. 
Sometimes,  she  said,  they  came  in  such  fearful 
forms  as  frightened  her  very  much.  At  other  times 
they  spoke  her  fair,  and  promised  her  that  she  should 
never  want,  if  faithful ;  but  if  she  told  of  them  and 
their  doings,  they  threatened  to  martyr  her.  She 
also  boasted  of  her  favour  with  the  Queen  of  Elfland, 
and  the  good  friends  she  had  at  that  court,  notwith¬ 
standing  that  she  was  sometimes  in  disgrace  there, 
and  had  not  seen  the  queen  for  seven  years.  She 
said,  William  Sympson  is  with  the  fairies,  and  that 
he  lets  her  know  when  they  are  coming ;  and  that  he 
taught  her  what  remedies  to  use,  and  how  to  apply 
them.  She  declared  that  when  a  whirlwind  blew, 
the  fairies  were  commonly  there,  and  that  her  cousin 
Sympson  confessed  that  every  year  the  tithe  of  them 
were  taken  away  to  Hell.  The  celebrated  Patrick 
Adamson,  an  excellent  divine,  and  accomplished 
scholar,  created  by  James  VI.  Archbishop  of  St. 

M  2 


138 


LETTERS  ON 


Andrews,  swallowed  the  prescriptions  of  this  pooT 
hypochondriac,  with  good  faith  and  will,  eating  a 
stewed  fowl,  and  drinking  out  at  two  draughts  a 
quart  of  claret,  medicated  with  the  drugs  she  recom¬ 
mended.  According  to  the  belief  of  the  time,  this 
Alison  Pearson  transferred  the  bishop’s  indisposition 
from  himself  to  a  white  palfrey,  which  died  in  con¬ 
sequence.  There  is  a  very  severe  libel  on  him  for 
this  and  other  things  unbecoming  his  order,  with 
which  he  was  charged,  and  from  which  we  learn  that 
Lethington  and  Buccleuch  were  seen  by  dame  Pear¬ 
son  in  the  Fairyland.*  This  poor  woman’s  kinsman, 
Sympson,  did  not  give  better  shelter  to  her  than 
Thome  Reid  had  done  to  her  predecessor.  The 
margin  of  the  court  book  again  bears  the  melancholy 
and  brief  record,  “  Convicta  et  combusta .” 

The  two  poor  women  last  mentioned  are  the  more 
to  be  pitied,  as,  whether  enthusiasts  or  impostors, 
they  practised  their  supposed  art  exclusively  for  the 
advantage  of  mankind.  The  following  extraordinary 
detail  involves  persons  of  far  higher  quality,  and  who 
sought  to  familiars  for  more  baneful  purposes. 

Katharine  Munro,  Lady  Fowlis,  by  birth  Katharine 
Ross  of  Balnagowan,  of  high  rank,  both  by  her  own 
family  and  that  of  her  husband,  who  was  the  fifteenth 
Baron  of  Fowlis,  and  chief  of  the  warlike  clan  of 
Munro,  had  a  step-mother’s  quarrel  with  Robert 
Munro,  eldest  son  of  her  husband,  which  she  grati¬ 
fied  by  fonning  a  scheme  for  compassing  his  death 
Dy  unlawful  arts.  Her  proposed  advantage  in  this 
was,  that  the  widow  of  Robert,  when  he  was  thus 
removed,  should  marry  with  her  brother  George 
Ross  of  Balnagowan ;  and  for  this  purpose,  her  sis¬ 
ter-in-law,  the  present  Lady  Balnagowan,  was  also 
to  be  removed.  Lady  Fowlis,  if  the  endictment  had 
a  syllable  of  truth,  carried  on  her  practices  with  the 
least  possible  disguise.  She  assembled  persons  of 


*  See  Scottish  Poems,  edited  by  John  G.  Dalzell,  p.  321 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


139 


the  lowest  order,  stamped  with  an  infamous  celebrity 
as  witches ;  and  besides  making  pictures  or  models 
in  clay,  by  which  they  hoped  to  bewitch  Robert  Munro 
and  Lady  Balnagowan,  they  brewed,  upon  one  occa¬ 
sion,  poison  so  strong,  that  a  page  tasting  of  it  im¬ 
mediately  took  sickness.  Another  earthern  jar 
(Scottice,  pig,)  of  the  same  deleterious  liquor  was 
prepared  by  the  Lady  Fowlis,  and  sent  with  her  own 
nurse,  for  the  purpose  of  administering  it  to  Robert 
Munro.  The  messenger  having  stumbled  in  the 
dark,  broke  the  jar,  and  a  rank  grass  grew  on  the  spot 
where  it  fell,  which  sheep  and  cattle  abhorred  to 
touch;  but  the  nurse,  having  less  sense  than  the 
brute  beasts,  and  tasting  of  the  liquor  which  had 
been  sphled,  presently  died.  What  is  more  to  our 
present  purpose,  Lady  Fowlis  made  use  of  the  ar¬ 
tillery  of  Elfland,  in  order  to  destroy  her  step-son  and 
sister-in-law.  Laskie  Loncart,  one  of  the  assistant 
hags,  produced  two  of  what  the  common  people  call 
elf-arrow-heads*  being,  in  fact,  the  points  of  flint  used 
for  arming  the  ends  of  arrow  shafts  in  the  most  an¬ 
cient  times,  but  accounted  by  the  superstitious  the 
weapons  by  which  the  fairies  were  wont  to  destroy 
both  man  and  beast.  The  pictures  of  the  intended 
victims  were  then  set  up  at  the  north  end  of  the  apart¬ 
ment,  and  Christian  Ross  Malcolmson,  an  assistant 
hag,  shot  two  shafts  at  the  image  of  Lady  Balnago¬ 
wan,  and  three  against  the  picture  of  Robert  Munro, 
by  which  shots  they  were  broken,  and  Lady  Fowlis 
commanded  new  figures  to  be  modelled.  Many 
similar  acts  of  witchcraft,  and  of  preparing  poisons, 
were  alleged  against  Lady  Fowlis. 

Her  son-in-law,  Hector  Munro,  one  of  his  step¬ 
mother’s  prosecutors,  was,  for  reasons  of  his  own, 
active  in  a  similar  conspiracy  against  the  life  of  his 
own  brother.  The  rites  that  he  practised  were  of 
an  uncouth,  barbarous,  and  unusual  nature.  Hector 
being  taken  ill,  consulted  on  his  case  some  of  the 
witches  or  soothsayers,  to  whom  this  family  appears 


140 


LETTERS  ON 


to  have  been  partial.  The  answer  was  unanimous 
that  he  must  die  unless  the  principal  man  of  his 
blood  should  suffer  death  in  his  stead.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  vicarious  substitute  for  Hector  must  mean 
George  Munro,  brother  to  him  by  the  half-blood  (the 
son  of  the  Catharine,  Lady  Fowlis,  before  comme¬ 
morated).  Hector  sent  at  least  seven  messengers 
for  this  young  man,  refusing  to  receive  any  of  his 
other  friends,  till  he  saw  the  substitute  whom  he  des¬ 
tined  to  take  his  place  in  the  grave.  When  George 
at  length  arrived,  Hector,  by  advice  of  a  notorious 
witch,  called  Marion  Maclngarach,  and  of  his  own 
foster  mother,  Christian  Neil  Dalyell,  received  him 
with  peculiar  coldness  and  restraint.  He  did  not 
speak  for  the  space  of  an  hour,  till  his  brother  broke 
silence,  and  asked  “  How  he  did  1”  Hector  replied, 
“  That  he  was  the  better  George  had  come  to  visit 
him,”  and  relapsed  into  silence,  which  seemed  sin¬ 
gular  when  compared  with  the  anxiety  he  had  dis¬ 
played  to  see  his  brother;  but  it  was,  it  seems,  a 
necessary  part  of  the  spell.  After  midnight,  the 
sorceress  Marion  Maclngarach,  the  chief  priestess, 
or  Nicneven,  of  the  company,  went  forth  with  her 
accomplices,  carrying  spades  with  them.  They  then 
proceeded  to  dig  a  grave,  not  far  from  the  sea-side, 
upon  a  piece  of  land,  which  formed  the  boundary 
between  two  proprietors.  The  grave  was  made  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  the  size  of  their  patient  Hector 
Munro,  the  earth  dug  out  of  the  grave  being  laid 
aside  for  the  time.  After  ascertaining  that  the  ope¬ 
ration  of  the  charm  on  George  Munro,  the  destined 
victim,  should  be  suspended  for  a  time,  to  avoid  sus¬ 
picion,  the  conspirators  proceeded  to  work  their  spell 
in  a  singular,  impressive,  and,  I  believe,  unique  man¬ 
ner.  The  time  being  January,  1588,  the  patient, 
Hector  Munro,  was  borne  forth  in  a  pair  of  blankets, 
accompanied  by  all  who  were  intrusted  with  the 
secret,  who  were  warned  to  be  strictly  silent,  till  the 
chief  sorceress  should  have  received  her  information 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


141 


from  the  angel  whom  they  served.  Hector  Munro 
was  carried  to  his  grave,  and  laid  therein,  the  earth 
being  filled  in  on  him,  and  the  grave  secured  with 
stakes,  as  at  a  real  funeral.  Marion  Maclngarach, 
the  Hecate  of  the  night,  then  sat  down  by  the  grave, 
while  Christian  Neil  Dalyell,  the  foster  mother,  ran 
the.  breadth  of  about  nine  ridges  distant,  leading  a 
boy  in  her  hand,  and,  coming  again  to  the  grave 
where  Hector  Munro  was  interred  alive,  demanded 
of  the  witch  which  victim  she  would  choose,  who 
replied,  that  she  chose  Hector  to  live,  and  George 
to  die  in  his  stead.  This  form  of  incantation  was 
thrice  repeated  ere  Mr.  Hector  was  removed  from  his 
chilling  bed  in  a  January  grave,  and  carried  home,  all 
remaining  mute  as  before.  The  consequence  of  a 
process,  which  seems  ill-adapted  to  produce  the 
former  effect,  was,  that  Hector  Munro  recovered,  and, 
after  the  intervention  of  twelve  months,  George 
Munro,  his  brother,  died.  Hector  took  the  principal 
witch  into  high  favour,  made  her  keeper  of  his  sheep, 
and  evaded,  it  is  said,  to  present  her  to  trial,  when 
charged  at  Aberdeen  to  produce  her.  Though  one 
or  two  inferior  persons  suffered  death  on  account  of 
the  sorceries  practised  in  the  house  of  Fowlis,  the 
Lady  Katharine,  and  her  step-son  Hector,  had  both 
the  unusual  good  fortune  to  be  found  not  guilty.  Mr. 
Pitcairn  remarks,  that  the  juries  being  composed  of 
subordinate  persons,  not  suitable  to  the  rank  or 
family  of  the  person  tried ,  has  all  the  appearance  of 
having  been  packed  on  purpose  for  acquittal.  It 
might  also,  in  some  interval  of  good  sense,  creep  into 
the  heads  of  Hector  Munro’s  assize,  that  the  enchant¬ 
ment  being  performed  in  January,  1588,  and  the  de¬ 
ceased  being  only  taken  ill  of  his  fatal  disease  in 
April,  1590,  the  distance  between  the  events  might 
seem  too  great  to  admit  the  former  being  regarded  as 
the  cause  of  the  latter.* 


*  Pitcairn’s  Trials,  vol.  i.  p.  191.  201 


142 


LETTERS  ON 


Another  instance  of  the  skill  of  a  sorcerer  being 
traced  to  the  instructions  of  the  elves,  is  found  in  the 
confession  of  John  Stewart,  called  a  vagabond,  but 
professing  skill  in  palmestrie  and  jugglerie,  and 
accused  of  having  assisted  Margaret  Barclay  or  Dein, 
to  sink  or  cast  away  a  vessel  belonging  to  her  own 
good-brother.  It  being  demanded  of  him  by  what 
means  he  professed  himself  to  have  knowledge  of 
things  to  come,  the  said  John  confessed,  that,  the 
space  of  twenty-six  years  ago,  he  being  travelling 
on  All-Hallow-even  night,  between  the  towns  of 
Monygoif  (so  spelled)  and  Clary,  in  Galway,  he  met 
with  the  King  of  the  Fairies  and  his  company,  and 
that  the  King  of  the  Fairies  gave  him  a  stroke  with 
a  white  rod  over  the  forehead,  which  took  from  him 
the  power  of  speech,  and  the  use  of  one  eye,  which 
he  wanted  for  the  space  of  three  years.  He  declared, 
that  the  use  of  speech  and  eyesight  was  restored  to 
him  by  the  King  of  Fairies  and  his  company,  on  an 
Hallow-e’en  night,  at  the  town  of  Dublin,  in  Ireland, 
and  that  since  that  time,  he  had  joined  these  people 
every  Saturday  at  seven  o’clock,  and  remained  with 
them  all  the  night ;  also,  that  they  met  every  Hallow- 
tide,  sometimes  on  Lanark  Hill  (Tintock,  perhaps), 
sometimes  on  Ivilmaur’s  Hill,  and  that  he  was  then 
taught  by  them.  He  pointed  out  the  spot  of  his 
forehead,  on  which,  he  said,  the  King  of  the  Fairies 
struck  him  with  a  white  rod,  whereupon,  the  prisoner 
being  blindfolded,  they  pricked  the  spot  with  a  large 
pin,  whereof  he  expressed  no  sense  or  feeling.  He 
made  the  usual  declaration,  that  he  had  seen  many 
persons  at  the  Court  of  Fairy,  whose  names  he 
rehearsed  particularly,  and  declared  that  all  such 
persons  as  are  taken  away  by  sudden  death  go  with 
the  King  of  Elfland.  With  this  man’s  evidence  we 
have  at  present  no  more  to  do,  though  we  may  revert 
to  the  execrable  proceedings  which  then  took  place 
against  this  miserable  juggler  and  the  poor  women 
who  were  accused  of  the  same  crime.  At  present  it  is 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  143 

quoted  as  another  instance  of  a  fortune-teller  referring 
to  Elfland  as  the  source  of  his  knowledge. 

At  Auldearne,  a  parish  and  burgh  of  Barony,  in  the 
county  of  Nairne,  the  epidemic  terror  of  witches 
seems  to  hare  gone  very  far.  The  confession  of  a 
woman  called  Isobel  Gowdie,  of  date  April,  1662, 
implicates,  as  usual,  the  Court  of  Fairy,  and  blends 
the  operations  of  witchcraft  with  the  facilities  afford¬ 
ed  by  the  fairies.  These  need  be  the  less  insisted 
upon  in  this  place,  as  the  arch  fiend,  and  not  the  elves, 
had  the  immediate  agency  in  the  abominations  which 
she  narrates.  Yet  she  had  been,  she  said,  in  the 
Dounie  Hills,  and  got  meat  there  from  the  Queen  of 
Fairies,  more  than  she  could  eat.  She  added,  that 
the  queen  is  bravely  clothed  in  white  linen,  and  in 
white  and  brown  cloth, — that  the  King  of  Fairy  is  a 
brave  man;  and  there  were  elf-bulls  roaring  and 
skoilling  at  the  entrance  of  their  palace,  which  fright¬ 
ened  her  much.  On  another  occasion  this  frank 
penitent  confesses  her  presence  at  a  rendezvous  of 
witches,  Lammas  1659,  where,  after  they  had  rambled 
through  the  country  in  different  shapes,  of  cats, 
hares,  and  the  like,  eating,  drinking,  and  wasting  the 
goods  of  their  neighbours,  into  whose  houses  they 
could  penetrate,  they  at  length  came  to  the  Dounie 
Hills,  where  the  mountain  opened  to  receive  them, 
and  they  entered  a  fair  big  room,  as  bright  as  day. 
At  the  entrance  ramped  and  roared  the  large  fairy 
bulls,  which  always  alarmed  Isobel  Gowdie.  These 
animals  are  probably  the  water  bulls,  famous  both  in 
Scottish  and  Irish  tradition,  which  are  not  supposed 
to  be  themselves  altogether  canny ,  or  safe  to  have 
concern  with.  In  their  caverns  the  fairies  manufac¬ 
tured  those  elf-arrow-heads,  with  which  the  witches 
and  they  wrought  so  much  evil.  The  elves  and  the 
arch-fiend  laboured  jointly  at  this  task,  the  former 
forming  and  sharpening  the  dart  from  the  rough  flint, 
and  the  latter  perfecting  and  finishing,  or,  as  it  is 
called,  dighting  it.  Then  came  the  sport  of  the 


144 


LETTERS  ON 


meeting.  The  witches  bestrode  either  com  straws, 
bean  stalks,  or  rushes,  and  calling  “  Horse  and 
Hattock,  in  the  Devil’s  name!”  which  is  the  elfin 
signal  for  mounting,  they  flew  wherever  they  listed. 
If  the  little  whirlwind  which  accompanies  their 
transportation  passed  any  mortal,  who  neglected  to 
bless  himself,  all  such  fell  under  the  witches’  power, 
and  they  acquired  the  right  of  shooting  at  him.  The 
penitent  prisoner  gives  the  names  of  many  whom 
she  and  her  sisters  had  so  slain,  the  death  for  which 
she  was  most  sorry  being  that  of  William  Brown,  in 
the  Milntown  of  Mains.  A  shaft  was  also  aimed  at 
the  Reverend  Harrie  Forbes,  a  minister  who  was 
present  at  the  examination  of  Isobel,  the  confessing' 
party.  The  arrow  fell  short,  and  the  witch  would 
have  taken  aim  again,  but  her  master  forbade  her, 
saying,  the  reverend  gentleman’s  life  was  not  subject 
to  their  power.  To  this  strange  and  very  particular 
confession  we  shall  have  occasion  to  recur,  when 
witchcraft  is  the  more  immediate  subject.  What  is 
above  narrated  marks  the  manner  in  which  the 
belief  in  that  crime  was  blended  with  the  fairy  su¬ 
perstition. 

To  proceed  to  more  modem  instances  of  persons 
supposed  to  have  fallen  under  the  power  of  the  fairy 
race,  we  must  not  forget  the  Rev.  Robert  Kirke, 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  the  first  translator  of  the 
Psalms  into  Gaelic  verse.  He  was,  in  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  successively  minister  of  the 
Highland  parishes  of  Balquidder  and  Aberfoyle, 
lying  in  the  most  romantic  district  of  Perthshire,  and 
within  the  Highland  line.  These  beautiful  and  wild 
regions,  comprehending  so  many  lakes,  rocks,  seques¬ 
tered  valleys,  and  dim  copse  woods,  are  not  even  yet 
quite  abandoned  by  the  fairies,  who  have  resolutely 
maintained  secure  footing  in  a  region  so  well  suited 
foi  their  residence.  Indeed,  so  much  was  this  the 
case  formerly,  that  Mr.  Kirke,  while  in  his  latter 
charge  of  Aberfoyle,  found  materials  for  collecting 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


145 


and  compiling  his  Essay  on  the  “  Subterranean  and 
for  the  most  part  Invisible  People,  heretofore  going 
under  the  name  of  Elves,  Fawnes,  and  Fairies,  or 
the  like.”*  In  this  discourse,  the  author,  “  with  un¬ 
doubting  mind,”  describes  the  fairy  race  as  a  sort  of 
astral  spirits,  of  a  kind  between  humanity  and  angels 
— says  that  they  have  children,  nurses,  marriages, 
deaths,  and  burials,  like  mortals  in  appearance ;  that, 
in  some  respect,  they  represent  mortal  men,  and 
that  individual  apparitions,  or  double-men,  are  found 
among  them,  corresponding  with  mortals  existing 
on  earth.  Mr.  Kirke  accuses  them  of  stealing  the 
milk  from  the  cows,  and  of  carrying  away  what  is 
more  material,  the  women  in  pregnancy,  and  newr- 
born  children  from  their  nurses.  The  remedy  is 
easy  in  both  cases.  The  milk  cannot  be  stolen,  if 
the  mouth  of  the  calf,  before  he  is  permitted  to  suck, 
be  rubbed  with  a  certain  balsam,  very  easily  come 
by ;  and  the  woman  in  travail  is  safe,  if  a  piece  of 
cold  iron  is  put  into  the  bed.  Mr.  Kirke  accounts 
for  this,  by  informing  us,  that  the  great  northern 
mines  of  iron,  lying  adjacent  to  the  place  of  eternal 
punishment,  have  a  savour  odious  to  these  “  fascinat¬ 
ing  creatures.”  They  have,  says  the  reverend 
author,  what  one  would  not  expect,  many  light,  toyish 
books  (novels  and  plays,  doubtless),  others  on  Rosy- 
crucian  subjects,  and  of  an  abstruse  mystical  cha¬ 
racter  ;  but  they  have  no  Bibles,  or  works  of  devotion. 
The  essayist  fails  not  to  mention  the  elf-arrow-heads, 
which  have  something  of  the  subtlety  of  thunder¬ 
bolts,  and  can  mortally  wound  the  vital  parts,  with¬ 
out  breaking  the  skin.  These  wounds,  he  says,  he 
has  himself  observed  in  beasts,  and  felt  the  fatal 
lacerations  which  he  could  not  see. 

*  The  title  continues,— “Among  the  Low  Country  Scots,  as  they  are 
described  by  those  who  have  the  second  sight,  and  now,  to  occasion 
farther  inquiry,  collected  and  compared  by  a  circumspect  inquirer 
residing  among  the  Scottish-Irish  (i.  e.  the  Gael,  or  Highlanders)  in 
Scotland.”  It  was  printed  with  the  author’s  name  in  1691,  and  to 
printed, Edinburgh,  1815,  for  Longman  and  Co. 


146 


LETTERS  Olt 


It  was  by  no  means  to  be  supposed  that  the  elves, 
so  jealous  and  irritable  a  race  as  to  be  incensed 
against  those  who  spoke  of  them  under  their  proper 
names,  should  be  less  than  mortally  offended  at  the 
temerity  of  the  reverend  author,  who  had  pried  so 
deeply  into  their  mysteries,  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
them  to  the  public.  Although,  therefore,  the  learned 
divine’s  monument,  with  his  name  duly  inscribed,  is 
to  be  seen  at  the  east  end  of  the  churchyard  at  Aber- 
foyle,  yet  those  acquainted  with  his  real  history  do 
not  believe  that  he  enjoys  the  natural  repose  of  the 
tomb.  His  successor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Grahame,  has 
informed  us  of  the  general  belief,  that  as  Mr.  Kirke 
was  walking  one  evening  in  his  night-gown  upon  a 
Dun-shi,  or  fairy  mount,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  manse 
or  parsonage,  behold !  he  sunk  down  in  what  seemed 
to  be  a  fit  of  apoplexy,  which  the  unenlightened  took 
for  death,  while  the  more  understanding  knew  it  to 
be  a  swoon  produced  by  the  supernatural  influence 
of  the  people  whose  precincts  he  had  violated.  Aftei 
the  ceremony  of  a  seeming  funeral,  the  form  of  the 
Rev.  Robert  Kirke  appeared  to  a  relation,  and  com¬ 
manded  him  to  go  to  Grahame  of  Duchray,  ancestor 
of  the  present  General  Grahame  Stirling.  “  Say  to 
Duchray,  who  is  my  cousin  as  well  as  your  own,  that 
I  am  not  dead,  but  a  captive  in  Fairy  Land,  and  only 
one  i'chance  remains  for  my  liberation.  When  the 
posthumous  child,  of  which  my  wife  has  been  deli¬ 
vered  since  my  disappearance,  shall  be  brought  to 
baptism,  I  will  appear  in  the  room,  when,  if  Duchray 
shall  throw  over  my  head  the  knife  or  dirk  which  he 
holds  in  his  hand,  I  may  be  restored  to  society ;  but  if 
this  opportunity  is  neglected,  I  am  lost  for  ever.” 
Duchray  was  apprized  of  what  was  to  be  done.  The 
ceremony  took  place,  and  the  apparition  of  Mr.  Kirke 
was  visibly  seen  while  they  were  seated  at  table ;  but 
Grahame  of  Duchray,  in  his  astonishment,  failed  to 
perform  the  ceremony  enjoined,  and  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  Mr.  Kirke  still  “  drees  his  weird  in  fairy- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


147 


land,”  the  Elfin  state  declaring1  to  him,  as  the 
Ocean  to  poor  Falconer,  who  perished  at  sea, 
after  having  written  his  popular  poem  of  the  Ship¬ 
wreck, — 

“Tliou  hast  proclaimed  our  power — be  thou  our  prey !” 

Upon  this  subject  the  reader  may  consult  a  very 
entertaining  little  volume,  called  “  Sketches  of  Perth¬ 
shire,”*  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Grahame  of  Aberfoyle. 
The  terrible  visitation  of  fairy  vengeance  which  has 
lighted  upon  Mr.  Kirke  has  not  intimidated  his  suc¬ 
cessor,  an  excellent  man,  and  good  antiquary,  from 
affording  us  some  curious  information  on  fairy  super¬ 
stition.  He  tells  us  that  these  capricious  elves  are 
chiefly  dangerous  on  a  Friday,  when,  as  the  day  of 
the  Crucifixion,  evil  spirits  have  most  power,  and 
mentions  their  displeasure  at  any  one  who  assumes 
their  accustomed  livery  of  green,  a  colour  fatal  to 
several  families  in  Scotland,  to  the  whole  race  of  the 
gallant  Grahames  in  particular ;  insomuch,  that  we 
have  heard  that  in  battle  a  Grahame  is  generally  shot 
through  the  green  check  of  his  plaid ;  moreover,  that 
a  veteran  sportsman  of  the  name,  having  come  by  a 
bad  fall,  he  thought  it  sufficient  to  account  for  it,  that 
he  had  a  piece  of  green  whip-cord  to  complete  the 
lash  of  his  hunting-whip.  I  remember,  also,  that 
my  late  amiable  friend,  James  Grahame,  author  of 
“  The  Sabbath,”  would  not  break  through  this  ancient 
prejudice  of  his  clan,  but  had  his  library  table 
covered  with  blue  or  black  cloth,  rather  than  use 
the  fated  colour  commonly  employed  on  such  oc¬ 
casions. 

To  return  from  the  Perthshire  fairies,  I  may  quote 
a  stoiy  of  a  nature  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Mas 
Robert  Kirke.  The  life  of  the  excellent  person  who 
told  it  was,  for  the  benefit  of  her  friends  and  the  poor, 


*  Edinburgh,  1812. 


148 


LETTERS  ON 


protracted  to  an  unusual  duration;  so  I  conceive  that 
this  adventure,  which  took  place  in  her  childhood, 
might  happen  before  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
She  was  residing  with  some  relations,  near  the  small 
seaport  town  of 'North  Berwick,  when  the  place  and 
its  vicinity  were  alarmed  by  the  following  story: — • 
An  industrious  man,  a  weaver,  in  the  little  town, 
was  married  to  a  beautiful  woman,  who,  after  bearing 
two  or  three  children,  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  die 
during  the  birth  of  a  fourth  child.  The  infant  was 
saved,  but  the  mother  had  expired  in  convulsions ;  and 
as  she  was  much  disfigured  after  death,  it  became  an 
opinion  among  her  gossips,  that,  from  some  neglect 
of  those  who  ought  to  have  watched  the  sick  woman, 
she  must  have  been  carried  off  by  the  elves,  and  this 
ghastly  corpse  substituted  in  the  place  of  the  body. 
The  widower  paid  little  attention  to  these  rumours, 
and,  after  bitterly  lamenting  his  wife  for  a  year  of 
mourning,  began  to  think  on  the  prudence  of  form¬ 
ing  a  new  marriage,  which,  to  a  poor  artisan  with  so 
young  a  family,  and  without  the  assistance  of  a 
housewife,  was  almost  a  matter  of  necessity.  He 
readily  found  a  neighbour  with  whose  good  looks  he 
was  satisfied,  while  her  character  for  temper  seemed 
to  warrant  her  good  usage  of  his  children.  He  pro¬ 
posed  himself  and  was  accepted,  and  carried  the 
names  of  the  parties  to  the  clergyman  (called,  I  be¬ 
lieve  Mr.  Matthew  Reid)  for  the  due  proclamation  of 
bans.  As  the  man  had  really  loved  his  late  partner, 
it  is  likely  that  this  proposed  decisive  alteration  of 
his  condition  brought  back  many  reflections  concern¬ 
ing  the  period  of  their  union,  and  with  these  recalled 
the  extraordinary  rumours  which  were  afloat  at  the 
time  of  her  decease,  so  that  the  whole  forced  upon 
him  the  following  lively  dream.  As  he  lay  in  his  bed, 
awake  as  he  thought,  he  beheld,  at  the  ghostly  hour 
of  midnight,  the  figure  of  a  female  dressed  in  white, 
who  entered  his  hut,  stood  by  the  side  of  his  bed,  and 
aDpeared  to  him  the  very  likeness  of  his  late  wife. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  149 

He  conjured  her  to  speak,  and  with  astonishment 
heard  her  say,  like  the  minister  of  Aberfoyle,  that 
she  was  not  dead,  hut  the  unwilling  captive  of  the 
Good  Neighbours.  Like  Mr.  Kirke,  too,  she  told 
him,  that  if  all  the  love  which  he  once  had  for 
her  was  not  entirely  gone,  an  opportunity  still 
remained  of  recovering  her,  or  winning  her  back, 
as  it  was  usually  termed,  from  the  comfortless 
realms  of  Elfland.  She  charged  him,  on  a  certain 
day  of  the  ensuing  week,  that  he  should  convene 
the  most  respectable  housekeepers  in  the  town,  with 
the  clergyman  at  their  head,  and  should  disinter 
the  coffin  in  which  she  was  supposed  to  have  been 
buried.  “  The  clergyman  is  to  recite  certain  pray¬ 
ers,  upon  which,”  said  the  apparition,  “  I  will  start 
from  the  coffin,  and  fly  with  great  speed  round  the 
church,  and  you  must  have  the  fleetest  runner  of 
the  parish  (naming  a  man  famed  for  swiftness)  to 
pursue  me,  and  such  a  one,  the  smith,  renowned  for 
his  strength,  to  hold  me  fast,  after  I  am  overtaken ; 
and  in  that  case  I  shall,  by  the  prayers  of  the  church, 
and  the  efforts  of  my  loving  husband  and  neighbours, 
again  recover  my  station  in  human  society.”  In 
the  morning,  the  poor  widower  was  distressed  with 
the  recollection  of  his  dream,  but  ashamed  and  puz¬ 
zled,  took  no  measures  in  consequence.  A  second 
night,  as  is  not  very  surprising,  the  visitation  was 
again  repeated.  On  the  third  night  she  appeared 
with  a  sorrowful  and  displeased  countenance,  up¬ 
braided  him  with  want  of  love  and  affection,  and 
conjured  him,  for  the  last  time,  to  attend  to  her  in¬ 
structions,  which,  if  he  now  neglected,  she  would 
never  have  power  to  visit  earth  or  communicate  with 
him  again.  In  order  to  convince  him  there  was  no 
delusion,  he  “  saw  in  his  dream”  that  she  took  up 
the  nursling  at  whose  birth  she  had  died,  and  gave 
it  suck ;  she  spilled  also  a  drop  or  two  of  her  milk 
on  the  poor  man’s  bed-clothes,  as  if  to  assure  him 
of  the  reality  of  the  vision. 

N  2 


150 


LETTERS  ON 


The  next  morning  the  terrified  widower  carried  a 
statement  of  his  perplexity  to  Mr.  Matthew  Reid,  the 
clergyman.  This  reverend  person,  besides  being  an 
excellent  divine  in  other  respects,  was  at  the  same 
time  a  man  of  sagacity,  who  understood  the  human 
passions.  He  did  not  attempt  to  combat  the  reality 
of  the  vision  which  had  thrown  his  parishioner  into 
this  tribulation,  but  he  contended  it  could  be  only  an 
illusion  of  the  devil.  He  explained  to  the  widower, 
that  no  created  being  could  have  the  right  or  power 
to  imprison  or  detain  the  soul  of  a  Christian — con¬ 
jured  him  not  to  believe  that  his  wife  was  otherwise 
disposed  of  than  according  to  God’s  pleasure — as* 
sured  him  that  Protestant  doctrine  utterly  denies  the 
existence  of  any  middle  state  in  the  world  to  come 
— and  explained  to  him  that  he,  as  a  clergyman  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  neither  could  nor  dared  au¬ 
thorize  opening  graves,  or  using  the  intervention  of 
prayer  to  sanction  rites  of  a  suspicious  character. 
The  poor  man,  confounded  and  perplexed  by  vari¬ 
ous  feelings,  asked  his  pastor  what  he  should  do. 
“  I  will  give  you  my  best  advice,”  said  the  clergy¬ 
man.  “  Get  your  new  bride’s  consent  to  be  married 
to-morrow,  or  to-day,  if  you  can ;  I  will  take  it  on 
me  to  dispense  with  the  rest  of  the  bans,  or  proclaim 
them  three  times  in  one  day.  You  will  have  a  new 
wife,  and  if  you  think  of  the  former,  it  will  be  only 
as  of  one  from  whom  death  has  separated  you,  and 
for  whom  you  may  have  thoughts  of  affection  and 
sorrow,  but  as  a  saint  in  Heaven,  and  not  as  a  pri¬ 
soner  in  Elfland.”  The  advice  was  taken,  and  the 
perplexed  widower  had  no  more  visitations  from  his 
former  spouse. 

An  instance,  perhaps  the  latest  which  has  been 
made  public,  of  communication  with  the  Restless 
People — (a  more  proper  epithet,  than  that  of  Daoint 
Shi,  or  Men  of  Peace,  as  they  are  called  in  Gaelic) 

- — came  under  Pennant’s  notice,  so  late  as  during 
that  observant  traveller’s  tour  in  1769.  Being  per- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  151 

haps  the  latest  news  from  the  invisible  common¬ 
wealth,  we  give  the  tourist’s  own  words. 

“  A  poor  visionary  who  had  been  working  in  his 
cabbage  garden  (in  Breadalbane),  imagined  that  he 
was  raised  suddenly  up  into  the  air,  and  conveyed 
over  a  wall  into  an  adjacent  corn-field ;  that  he  found 
himself  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  men  and  women, 
many  of  whom  he  knew  to  have  been  dead  for  some 
years,  and  who  appeared  to  him  skimming  over  the 
tops  of  the  unbending  corn,  and  mingling  together 
like  bees  going  to  hive ;  that  they  spoke  an  unknown 
language,  and  with  a  hollow  sound ;  that  they  very 
roughly  pushed  him  to  and  fro,  but  on  his  uttering 
the  name  of  God,  all  vanished  but  a  female  sprite, 
who,  seizing  him  by  the  shoulder,  obliged  him  to  pro¬ 
mise  an  assignation,  at  that  very  hour  that  day  seven- 
night;  that  he  then  found  his  hair  was  all  tied  in 
double  knots  (well  known  by  the  name  of  elf-locks), 
and  that  he  had  almost  lost  his  speech  ;  that  he  kept 
his  word  with  the  spectre,  whom  he  soon  saw  float¬ 
ing  through  the  air  towards  him ;  that  he  spoke  to 
her,  but  she  told  him  she  was  at  that  time  in  too 
much  haste  to  attend  to  him,  but  bid  him  go  away 
and  no  harm  should  befall  him,  and  so  the  affair 
rested  when  I  left  the  country.  But  it  is  incredible 
the  mischief  of  these  ctgri  somnia  did  in  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood.  The  friends  and  neighbours  of  the  de¬ 
ceased,  whom  the  old  dreamer  had  named,  were  in 
the  utmost  anxiety  at  finding  them  in  such  bad  com¬ 
pany  in  the  other  world ;  the  almost  extinct  belief 
of  the  old  idle  tales  began  to  gain  ground,  and  the 
good  minister  will  have  many  a  weary  discourse  and 
exhortation  before  he  can  eradicate  the  absurd  ideas 
this  idle  story  has  revived.”* 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  this  compara¬ 
tively  recent  tale  is  just  the  counterpart  wf  the  story 
of  Bessie  Dunlop,  Alison  Pearson,  and  v»f  the  Irish 


•  Pennant's  Tour  in  Scotland,  vol.  i  p.  HO. 


152 


LETTERS  ON 


butler,  who  was  so  nearly  carried  off,  all  of  whom 
found  in  Elfland  some  friend  formerly  of  middle 
earth,  who  attached  themselves  to  the  child  of  hu¬ 
manity,  and  who  endeavoured  to  protect  a  fellow- 
mortal  against  their  less  philanthropic  companions. 

These  instances  may  tend  to  show  how  the  fairy 
superstition,  which,  in  its  general  sense  of  worship¬ 
ping  the  Dii  Campestres,  was  much  the  older  of  the 
two,  came  to  bear  upon,  and  have  connexion  with, 
that  horrid  belief  in  witchcraft,  which  cost  so  many 
innocent  persons,  and  crazy  impostors,  their  lives, 
for  the  supposed  commission  of  impossible  crimes. 
In  the  next  chapter,  I  propose  to  trace  how  the  gene¬ 
ral  disbelief  in  the  fairy  creed  began  to  take  place, 
and  gradually  brought  into  discredit  the  supposed 
fears  of  witchcraft,  which  afforded  pretext  for  such 
cruel  practical  consequences. 


LETTER  VI. 

Immediate  Effect  of  Christianity  on  Articles  of  Popular  Superstition — 
Chaucer’s  Account  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Priests  banishing  the 
Fairies — Bishop  Corbett  imputes  the  same  Effect  to  the  Reformation 
— His  Verses  on  that  Subject — His  Iter  Septentrionale— Robin  Good- 
fellow,  and  other  Superstitions  mentioned  by  Reginald  Scot — Cha¬ 
racter  of  the  English  Fairies — The  Tradition  had  become  obsolete  iij 
that  Author’s  Tirne^-That  of  Witches  remained  in  Vigour — But 
impugned  by  various  Authors  after  the  Reformation,  as  VVierus, 
Naudaeus,  Scot,  and  others — Demonology  defended  by  Bodinus, 
Remigius,  &c. — Their  mutual  Abuse  of  each  other— Imperfection  of 
Physical  Science  at  this  Period,  and  the  Predominance  of  Mysticism 
in  that  Department. 

Although  the  influence  of  the  Christian  religion 
was  not  introduced  to  the  nations  of  Europe  with 
such  radiance  as  to  dispel  at  once  those  clouds  of 
superstition  which  continued  to  obscure  the  under¬ 
standing  of  hasty  and  ill-instructed  converts,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  its  immediate  operation  went 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  153 

to  modify  the  erroneous  and  extravagant  articles  of 
credulity,  which  lingered  behind  the  old  Pagan  faith, 
and  which  gave  way  before  it  in  proportion  as  its 
light  became  more  pure  and  refined  from  the  devices 
of  men. 

The  poet  Chaucer,  indeed,  pays  the  Church  of 
Rome,  with  its  monks  and  preaching  friars,  the  com¬ 
pliment  of  having,  at  an  early  period,  expelled  from 
the  land  all  spirits  of  an  inferior  and  less  holy  cha¬ 
racter.  The  verses  are  curious  as  well  as  picturesque, 
and  may  go  some  length  to  establish  the  existence  of 
doubts  concerning  the  general  belief  in  fairies  among 
the  well  instructed  in  the  time  of  Edward  III. 

The  fairies  of  whom  the  bard  of  Woodstock  talks, 
are,  it  will  be  observed,  the  ancient  Celtic  breed, 
and  he  seems  to  refer  for  the  authorities  of  his 
tale  to  Bretagne,  or  Armorica,  a  genuine  Celtic 
colony. 


“  In  old  time  of  the  King  Artour, 

Of  which  that  Bretons  speken  great  honour, 

All  was  this  land  fulfilled  of  faerie; 

The  Elf  queen,  with  her  joly  company, 

Danced  full  oft  in  many  agrenemead. 

This  was  the  old  opinion,  as  I  rede — 

I  speake  of  many  hundred  years  ago, 

But  now  can  no  man  see  no  elves  mo. 

For  now  the  great  charity  and  prayers 
Of  limitours,*  and  other  holy  freres, 

That  searchen  every  land  and  every  stream, 

As  thick  as  motes  in  the  sunne-beam, 

Blessing  halls,  chambers,  kitchenes,  and  boures, 
Cities  and  burghes,  castles  high  and  towers, 
Thropes  and  barnes,  sheep- pens  and  dairies, 
This  maketh  that  there  ben  no  fairies. 

For  there  as  wont  to  walken  was  an  elf, 

There  walketh  now  the  limitour  himself, 

In  under  nichles  and  in  morwenings, 

And  saith  his  matlins  and  his  holy  things, 

As  he  goeth  in  his  limitation. 

Women  may  now  go  safely  up  and  doun ; 

In  every  bush,  and  under  every  tree, 

There  is  no  other  incubus  than  he, 

And  he  ne  will  don  them  no  dishonour. 


*  Friars  limited  to  beg  within  a  certain  district. 
Wife  of  Bath’s  Tale- 


154 


LETTERS  ON 


When  we  see  the  opinion  which  Chaucer  has  ex¬ 
pressed  of  the  regular  clergy  of  his  time,  in  some 
of  his  other  tales,  we  are  tempted  to  suspect  some 
mixture  of  irony  in  the  compliment,  which  ascribes 
the  exile  of  the  fairies,  with  which  the  land  was 
“  fulfilled,”  in  King  Arthur’s  time,  to  the  warmth  and 
zeal  of  the  devotion  of  the  limitary  friars.  Indivi¬ 
dual  instances  of  skepticism  there  might  exist  among 
scholars,  but  a  more  modern  poet,  with  a  vein  of 
humour  not  unworthy  of  Geoffrey  himself,  has  with 
greater  probability  delayed  the  final  banishment  of 
the  fairies  from  England,  that  is,  from  popular  faith, 
till  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  has  represented 
their  expulsion  as  a  consequence  of  the  change  of 
religion.  Two  or  three  verses  of  this  lively  satire 
may  be  very  well  worth  the  reader’s  notice,  who 
fnust,  at  the  same  time,  be  informed,  that  the  author, 
t)r.  Corbett,  was  nothing  less  than  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford  and  Norwich,  in  the  beginning  of  the  17th 
century.  The  poem  is  named,  “A  proper  new 
Ballad,  entitled  the  Fairies’  Farewell,  to  be  sung  or 
whistled  to  the  tune  of  the  Meadow  Brow,  by  the 
learned ;  by  the  unlearned,  to  the  time  of  For¬ 
tune.” — 

“Farewell,  rewards  and  fairies, 

Good  housewives  now  may  say, 

For  now  foul  sluts  in  dairies 
.  Do  fare  as  well  as  they  ; 

And  though  they  sweep  their  hearths  no  less 
Than  maids  were  wont  to  do, 

Yet  who  of  late  for  cleanliness 
Finds  sixpence  in  her  shoe  1 

“  Lament,  lament,  old  abbeys, 

The  fairies’  lost  command; 

They  did  but  change  priests’  babies, 

But  some  have  changed  your  land; 

And  all  your  children  sprung  from  hence 
Are  now  grown  Puritans, 

Who  live  as  changelings  ever  since 
For  love  of  your  domains. 

“  At  morning  and  at  evening  both,  v 

You  merry  were  and  glad, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT, 


155 


So  little  care  of  sleep  and  sloth 
Those  pretty  ladies  had. 

When  Tom  came  home  from  labour, 

Or  Cis  to  milking  rose, 

Then  merrily,  merrily  went  their  tabour, 

And  merrily  went  their  toes. 

“  Witness,  those  rings  and  roundelays 
Of  theirs,  which  yet  remain, 

Were  footed  in  Queen  Mary’s  days, 

On  many  a  grassy  plain  ; 

But  since  of  late  Elizabeth, 

And  later,  James  came  in, 

They  never  danced  on  any  heath 
As  when  the  time  hath  bin. 

“  By  which  we  note,  the  fairies 
Were  of  the  old  profession, 

Their  songs  were  Ave  Maries, 

Their  dances  were  procession. 

But  now,  alas!  they  all  are  dead, 

Or  gone  beyond  the  seas ; 

Or  farther  for  religion  fled, 

Or  else  they  take  their  ease.” 

The  remaining  part  of  the  poem  is  dedicated  to 
the  praise  and  glory  of  old  William  Choume,  of  Staf¬ 
fordshire,  who  remained  a  true  and  stanch  evidence 
in  behalf  of  the  departed  elves,  and  kept,  much  it 
would  seem  to  the  amusement  of  the  witty  bishop, 
an  inexhaustible  record  of  their  pranks  and  feats, 
whence  the  concluding  verse. 

“To  William  all  give  audience 
And  pray  ye  for  his  noddle, 

For  all  the  fairies’  evidence, 

Were  lost  if  that  were  addle.”* 

This  William  Choume  appears  to  have  attended 
Dr.  Corbett’s  party  on  the  iter  septentrionale ,  two  of 
which  were,  and  two  desired  to  be,  doctors but 
whether  William  was  guide,  friend,  or  domestic, 
seems  uncertain.  The  travellers  lose  themselves  in 
the  mazes  of  Chorley  Forest,  on  their  way  to  Bos- 
worth,  and  their  route  becomes  so  confused,  that  they 
return  on  their  steps,  and  labour 

*  Corbett’s  Poems,  edited  by  Octavius  Gilchrist,  p.  213 


156 


LETTERS  ON 


1  As  in  a  conjurer’s  circle — William  found 
A  mean  for  our  deliverance, — ‘  Turn  your  cloaks,’ 

Quoth  he, 1  for  Puck  is  busy  in  these  oaks ; 

If  ever  you  at  Bosworth  would  he  found, 

Then  turn  your  cloaks,  for  this  is  fairy  ground. 

But  ere  this  witchcraft  was  perform’d,  we  meet 
A  very  man  who  had  no  cloven  feet. 

Though  William,  still  of  little  faith,  has  doubt, 

’Tis  Robin,  or  some  sprite  that  walks  about. 

‘Strike  hint,’  quoth  tie,  ‘and  it  will  turn  to  air — 

Cross  yourselves  thrice  and  strike  it.’ — 1  Strike  that  dare, 
Thought  I,  ‘  for  sure  this  massy  forester, 

In  strokes  will  prove  the  better  conjurer.’ 

But ’t  was  a  gentle  keeper,  one  that  knew 
Humanity  and  manners,  where  they  grew, 

And  rode  along  so  far,  till  he  could  say, 

‘  See,  yonder  Bosworth  stands,  and  this  your  way  ’  "* 


In  this  passage,  the  Bishop  plainly  shows  the  fairies 
maintained  their  influence  in  William’s  imagination, 
since  the  courteous  keeper  was  mistaken  by  their 
associate  champion  for  Puck  or  Robin  Goodfellow. 
The  spells  resorted  to,  to  get  rid  of  his  supposed  de¬ 
lusions,  are  alternatively  that  of  turning  the  cloak — 
(recommended,  in  visions  of  the  second  sight,  or 
similar  illusions,  as  a  means  of  obtaining  a  certainty 
concerning  the  being  which  is  before  imperfectly 
seenf) — and  that  of  exorcising  the  spirit  with  a 
cudgel ;  winch  last,  Corbett  prudently  thinks,  ought 
not  to  be  resorted  to,  unless  under  an  absolute  con¬ 
viction  that  the  exorcist  is  the  stronger  party. 
Chaucer,  therefore,  could  not  be  serious  in  averring 
that  the  fairy  superstitions  were  obsolete  in  his  day, 
since  they  were  found  current  three  centuries  after¬ 
ward. 

It  is  not  the  less  certain,  that,  as  knowledge  and 
religion  became  more  widely  and  brightly  displayed 
over  any  country,  the  superstitious  fancies  of  the 
people  sunk  gradually  in  esteem  and  influence  ;  and 

*  Corbett’s  poems,  p.  191. 

t  A  common  instance  is,  that  of  a  person  haunted  with  a  resem¬ 
blance,  whose  face  he  cannot  see.  If  he  turn  his  cloak,  or  plaid,  he  will 
obtain  the  full  sight  which  he  desires,  and  may  probably  find  it  to  be  bia 
own  fetch,  or  wraith,  or  double  ganger. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


157 


in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  unceasing 
labour  of  many  and  popular  preachers,  who  declaimed 
against  the  “  splendid  miracles”  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  produced  also  its  natural  effect  upon  the  other 
stock  of  superstitions.  “  Certainly,”  said  Reginald 
Scot,  talking  of  times  before  his  own,  “some  one 
knave  in  a  white  sheet  hath  cozened  and  abused  many 
thousands,  especially  when  Robin  Goodfellow  kept 
such  a  coil  in  the  country.  In  our  childhood,  our 
mothers’  maids  have  so  terrified  us  with  an  ugly  devil 
having  horns  on  his  head,  fire  in  his  mouth,  and  a  tail 
at  his  breech ;  eyes  like  a  basin,  fangs  like  a  dog,  claws 
like  a  bear,  a  skin  lilve  a  negro,  and  a  voice  roaring 
like  a  lion,  whereby  we  start  and  are  afraid  when  we 
hear  one  cry,  Boh !  and  they  have  so  frayd  us  with 
bull-beggars,  spirits,  witches,  urchins,  elves,  hags, 
fairies,  satyrs,  Pans,  fauns,  sylvans,  Kitt-with-the- 
candlestick,  tritons,  centaurs,  dwarfs,  giants,  imps, 
calcars,  conjurers,  nymphs,  changelings,  incubus, 
Robin  Goodfellow,  the  spoorn,  the  man-in- the -oak, 
the  hellwain,  the  firedrake,  the  puckle,  Tom  Thomb, 
Hobgoblin,  Tom-Tumbler,  Boneless,  and  such  other 
bugbears,  that  we  are  afraid  of  our  own  shadows, 
insomuch  that  some  never  fear  the  Devil  but  on  a 
dark  night ;  and  then  a  polled  sheep  is  a  perilous 
beast,  and  many  times  is  taken  for  our  father’s  soul, 
specially  in  a  churchyard,  where  a  right  hardy  man 
heretofore  durst  not  to  have  passed  by  night  but  his 
hair  would  stand  upright.  Well,  thanks  be  to  God, 
this  wretched  and  cowardly  infidelity,  since  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  is  in  part  forgotten,  and 
doubtless  the  rest  of  these  Illusions  will,  in  a  short 
time,  by  God’s  grace,  be  detected,  and  vanish  away.”* 

It  would  require  a  better  demonologist  than  I  am, 
to  explain  the  various  obsolete  superstitions  which 
Reginald  Scot  has  introduced  as  articles  of  the  old 
English  faith,  into  the  preceding  passage.  I  might 

*  Reginald  Scot’s  Discovery  of  Witchcraft,  book  vii.  chap.  15. 

o 


158 


LETTERS  ON 


indeed  say,  the  Phuca  is  a  Celtic  superstition,,  from 
which  the  word  Pook,  or  Puckle,  was  doubt'ess  de¬ 
rived  ;  and  I  might  conjecture,  that  the  man-in-the- 
oak  was  the  same  with  the  Earl-Konig  of  the  Ger¬ 
mans  ;  and  that  the  hellwain  were  a  kind  of  wan¬ 
dering  spirits,  the  descendants  of  a  champion  named 
Hellequin,  who  are  introduced  into  the  romance  of 
Richard  sans  Peur.  But  most  antiquaries  will  be  at 
fault  concerning  the  spoorn,  Kitt-with-the-candle- 
stick,  Boneless,  and  some  others.  The  catalogue, 
however,  serves  to  show  what  progress  the  English 
have  made  in  two  centuries,  in  forgetting  the  very 
names  of  objects  which  had  bepn  the  sources  of  ter¬ 
ror  to  their  ancestors  of  the  Elizabethan  age. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  fairy  superstition  in 
England,  we  may  remark,  that  it  was  of  a  more  play¬ 
ful  and  gentle,  less  wild  and  necromantic  character, 
than  that  received  among  the  sister  people.  The 
amusements  of  the  southern  fairies  were  light  and 
sportive ;  their  resentments  were  satisfied  with  pinch¬ 
ing  or  scratching  the  objects  of  their  displeasure ; 
their  peculiar  sense  of  cleanliness  rewarded  the 
housewives  with  the  silver  token  in  the  shoe  ;  their 
nicety  was  extreme  concerning  any  coarseness  or 
negligence  which  could  offend  their  delicacy  ;  and  I 
cannot  discern,  except,  perhaps,  from  the  insinua¬ 
tions  of  some  scrupulous  divines,  that  they  were  vas¬ 
sals  to,  ©r  in  close  alliance  with,  the  infernals,  as 
there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe  was  the  case 
with  their  North  British  sisterhood.*  The  common 
nursery  story  cannot  be  forgotten,  how,  shortly  after 
the  death  of  what  is  called  a  nice  tidy  housewife, 
the  Elfin  band  were  shocked  te  see  that  a  person  of 

*  Dr.  Jackson,  in  his  Treatise  on  Uubeilef,  opines  for  the  severer 
opinion.  “  Tims- are  the  Fayries,  from  difference  of  events  ascribed  to 
them,  divided  into  good  and  bad,  when  as  ft  re  but  one  and  the  same 
malignant  fiend,  that  meddles  in  both;  seeking  sometimes  to  be  feared, 
olhmvhiles  to  be  filled  as  God,  for  the  bodily  liarmes  or  good  tnrne» 
supposed  to  be  in  his  power.” — Jackson  on  Unbelief ,  p.  178,  edit,  ltiiS. 


•demonology  ano  witchcraft.  159 

■different  character,  with  whom  the  widower  had 
filled  his  deserted  arms,  instead  of  the  nicely  ar¬ 
ranged  little  loaf  of  the  whitest  bread,  and  a  basin 
of  sweet  cream,  duly  placed  for  their  refreshment  by 
the  deceased,  had  substituted  a  brown  loaf  and  a 
cobb  of  herrings.  Incensed  at  such  a  coarse  regale, 
the  elves  dragged  the  peeeant  housewife  out  of  bed, 
and  pulled  her  down  the  wooden  stairs  by  the  heels, 
repeating,  at  the  same  time,  in  scorn  of  her  churlish 
hospitality, 

“Brown  bread  and  herring  cobb! 

Thy  fat  sides  shall  have  many  a  bob !” 

But  beyond  such  playful  malice  they  had  no  desire 
to  extend  their  resentment. 

The  constant  attendant  upon  the  English  fairy 
court  was  the  celebrated  Puck,  or  Robin  Goodfellow, 
who,  to  the  elves,  acted  in  some  measure  as  the  jester, 
or  clown  of  the  company, — (a  character  then  to  be 
found  in  the  establishment  of  every  person  of  qua¬ 
lity,) — or  to  use  a  more  modern  comparison,  resem¬ 
bled  the  Pierrot  of  the  pantomime.  His  jests  were 
of  the  most  simple,  and  at  the  same  time  the  broad¬ 
est  comic  character — to  mislead  a  clown  on  his  path 
homeward,  to  disguise  himself  like  a  stool,  in  order 
to  induce  an  old  gossip  to  commit  the  egregious  mis¬ 
take  of  sitting  down  on  the  floor,  when  she  expected 
to  repose  on  a  chair,  were  his  special  enjoyments. 
If  he  condescended  to  do  some  work  for  the  sleep¬ 
ing  family,  in  which  he  had  some  resemblance  to 
the  Scottish  household  spirit  called  a  Brownie,  the 
selfish  Puck  was  far  from  practising  this  labour  on 
the  disinterested  principle  of  the  northern  goblin, 
who,  if  raiment  or  food  was  left  in  his  way,  and  for 
his  use,  departed  from  the  family  in  displeasure. 
Robin  Goodfellow,  on  the  contrary,  must  have  botli 
his  food  and  his  rest,  as  Milton  informs  us,  amid  his 
other  notices  of  country  superstitions,  in  the  poem 
of  l’AUegro.  And  it  is  to  be  noticed,  that  he  repre- 


160 


LETTERS  ON 


sents  these  tales  of  the  fairies,  told  round  the  cot¬ 
tage  hearth,  as  of  a  cheerful  rather  than  a  serious 
cast ;  which  illustrates  what  I  have  said  concerning 
the  milder  character  of  the  southern  superstitions,  as 
compared  with  those  of  the  same  class  in  Scotland 
— the  stories  of  which  are  for  the  most  part  of  a 
frightful,  and  not  seldom  of  a  disgustful  quality. 

Poor  Robin,  however,  between  whom  and  King 
Oberon  Shakspeare  contrives  to  keep  a  degree  of 
distinct  subordination,  which  for  a  moment  deceives 
us  by  its  appearance  of  reality,  notwithstanding  his 
turn  for  wit  and  humour,  had  been  obscured  by  obli¬ 
vion  even  in  the  days  of  Queen  Bess.  We  have 
already  seen,  in  a  passage  quoted  from  Reginald  Scot, 
that  the  belief  was  fallen  into  abeyance ;  that  which 
follows  from  the  same  author,  affirms  more  posi¬ 
tively  that  Robin’s  date  was  over. 

“  Know  you  this,  by-the-way,  that  heretofore  Robin 
Goodfellow  and  Hobgoblin  were  as  terrible,  and  also 
as  credible,  to  the  people,  as  hags  and  witches  be 
now ;  and,  in  time  to  come,  a  witch  will  be  as  much 
derided  and  condemned,  and  as  clearly  perceived, 
as  the  illusion  and  knavery  of  Robin  Goodfellow, 
upon  whom  there  have  gone  as  many  and  as  credi¬ 
ble  tales  as  witchcraft,  saving  that  it  hath  not  pleased 
the  translators  of  the  Bible  to  call  spirits  by  the 
name  of  Robin  Goodfellow,  as  they  have  diviners, 
soothsayers,  poisoners,  and  cozeners,  by  the  name 
of  witches.”*  In  the  same  tone  Reginald  Scot  ad¬ 
dresses  the  reader  in  the  preface — ■“  To  make  a  so¬ 
lemn  suit  to  you  that  are  partial  readers  to  set  aside 
partiality,  to  take  in  good  part  my  writings,  and 
with  indifferent  eyes  to  look  upon  my  book,  were  la¬ 
bour  lost  and  time  ill  employed;  for  I  should  no 
more  prevail  herein,  than  if  a  hundred  years  since  I 
should  have  entreated  your  predecessors  to  believe 
that  Robin  Goodfellow,  that  great  and  ancient  bull- 


*  Reginald  Scot’s  Discovery  of  Witchcraft,  book  vii.  chap.  iL 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


161 


beggar,  had  been  but  a  cozening  merchant,  and  no 
devil  indeed.  But  Robin  Goodfellow  ceaseth  now 
to  be  much  feared,  and  Popery  is  sufficiently  disco¬ 
vered;  nevertheless,  witches’  charms  and  conjurers’ 
cozenage  are  yet  effectual.”  This  passage  seems 
clearly  to  prove,  that  the  belief  in  Robin  Goodfellow 
and  his  fairy  companions  was  now  out  of  date,  while 
that  as  to  witchcraft,  as  was  afterward  but  too  well 
shown,  kept  its  ground  against  argument  and  con¬ 
troversy,  and  survived  “  to  shed  more  blood.” 

We  are  then  to  take  leave  of  this  fascinating  ar¬ 
ticle  of  the  popular  creed,  having  in  it  so  much  of 
interest  to  the  imagination,  that  we  almost  envy  the 
credulity  of  those  who,  in  the  gentle  moonlight  of  a 
summer  night  in  England,  amid  the  tangled  glades 
of  a  deep  forest,  or  the  turfy  swell  of  her  romantic 
commons,  could  fancy  they  saw  the  fames  tracing 
their  sportive  ring.  But  it  is  in  vain  to  regret  illu¬ 
sions  which,  however  engaging,  must  of  necessity 
yield  their  place  before  the  increase  of  knowledge, 
like  shadows  at  the  advance  of  morn.  These  super¬ 
stitions  have  already  served  their  best  and  most  use¬ 
ful  purpose,  having  been  embalmed  in  the  poetry  of 
Milton  and  of  Shakspeare,  as  well  as  writers  only 
inferior  to  these  great  names.  Of  Spenser  we  must 
say  nothing,  because  in  his  Faery  Queen,  the  title 
is  the  only  circumstance  which  connects  his  splen¬ 
did  allegory  with  the  popular  superstition,  and,  as 
he  uses  it,  means  nothing  more  than  an  Utopia,  or 
nameless  country. 

With  the  fairy  popular  creed  fell,  doubtless,  many 
subordinate  articles  of  credulity  in  England ;  but  the 
belief  in  witches  kept  its  ground.  It  was  rooted  in 
the  minds  of  the  common  people,  as  well  by  the 
easy  solution  it  afforded  of  much  which  they  found 
otherwise  hard  to  explain,  as  in  reverence  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  in  which  the  word  witch  being  used 
in  several  places,  conveyed  to  those  who  did  not 
trouble  themselves  about  the  nicety  of  the  transla- 

O  2 


162 


LETTERS  ON 


tion  from  the  Eastern  tongues,  the  inference  that  the 
same  species  of  witches  were  meant  as  those  against 
whom  modern  legislation  had,  in  most  European  na¬ 
tions,  directed  the  punishment  of  death.  These  two 
circumstances  furnished  the  numerous  believers  in 
witchcraft  with  arguments  in  divinity  and  law  which 
they  conceived  irrefragable.  They  might  say  to  the 
theologist,  Will  you  not  believe  in  witches  1  the 
Scriptures  aver  their  existence ; — to  the  jurisconsult. 
Will  you  dispute  the  existence  of  a  crime,  against 
which  our  own  statute-book  and  the  code  of  almost 
all  civilized  countries  have  attested,  by  laws  upon 
which  hundreds  and  thousands  have  been  convicted, 
many,  or  even  most  of  whom  have,  by  their  judicial 
confessions,  acknowledged  their  guilt  and  the  justice 
of  their  punishment'?  It  is  a  strange  skepticism, 
they  might  add,  which  rejects  the  evidence  of  Scrip¬ 
ture,  of  human  legislature,  and  of  the  accused  per¬ 
sons  themselves. 

Notwithstanding  these  specious  reasons,  the  six¬ 
teenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  were  periods  when 
the  revival  of  learning,  the  invention  of  printing,  the 
fearless  investigations  of  the  reformers  into  subjects 
thought  formerly  too  sacred  for  consideration  of  any 
save  the  clergy,  had  introduced  a  system  of  doubt, 
inquiry,  disregard  of  authority,  when  unsupported  by 
argument,  and  unhesitating  exercise  of  the  private 
judgment,  on  subjects  which  had  occupied  the  bulls 
of  popes,  and  decrees  of  councils.  In  short,  the 
spirit  of  the  age  was  little  disposed  to  spare  error, 
however  venerable,  or  countenance  imposture,  how¬ 
ever  sanctioned  by  length  of  time  and  universal 
acquiescence.  Learned  writers  arose  in  different 
countries  to  challenge  the  very  existence  of  this 
imaginary  crime,  to  rescue  the  reputation  of  the 
great  men  whose  knowledge,  superior  to  that  of 
their  age,  had  caused  them  to  be  suspected  of  magic, 
and  to  put  a  stop  to  the  horrid  superstition  whose 
victims  were  the  aged,  ignorant,  and  defenceless,  and 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  163 

which  could  only  be  compared  to  that  which  sent 
victims  of  old  through  the  fire  to  Moloch. 

The  courageous  interposition  of  those  philoso¬ 
phers  who  opposed  science  and  experience  to  the 
prejudices  of  superstition  and  ignorance,  and  in  do¬ 
ing  so,  incurred  much  misrepresentation,  and  per¬ 
haps  no  little  ill-will,  in  the  cause  of  truth  and 
humanity,  claims  for  them  some  distinction  in  a 
work  on  Demonology.  The  pursuers  of  exact  sci¬ 
ence  to  its  coy  retreats  were  sure  to  be  the  first  to 
discover,  that  the  most  remarkable  phenomena  in 
nature  are  regulated  by  certain  fixed  laws,  and  can¬ 
not  rationally  be  referred  to  supernatural  agency,  the 
sufficing  cause  to  Avhich  superstition  attributes  all 
that  is  beyond  her  own  narrow  power  of  explana¬ 
tion.  Each  advance  in  natural  knowledge  teaches 
us  that  it  is  the  pleasure  of  the  Creator  to  govern 
the  world  by  the  laws  which  he  has  imposed,  and 
which  are  not  in  our  times  interrupted  or  suspended. 

The  learned  Wier,  or  Wierus,  was  a  man  of  great 
research  in  physical  science,  and  studied  under  the 
celebrated  Cornelius  Agrippa,  against  whom  the 
charge  of  sorcery  was  repeatedly  alleged  by  Paulus 
Jovius,  and  other  authors,  while  he  suffered  on  the 
other  hand  from  the  persecution  of  the  inquisitors 
of  the  church,  whose  accusation  against  this  cele¬ 
brated  man  was,  that  he  denied  the  existence  of 
spirits,  a  charge  very  inconsistent  with  that  of  sor¬ 
cery,  which  consists  in  corresponding  with  them. 
Wierus,  after  taking  his  degrees  as  a  doctor  of  medi¬ 
cine,  became  physician  to  the  Duke  of  Cleves,  at 
whose  court  he  practised  for  thirty  years,  with  the 
highest  reputation.  This  learned  man,  disregarding 
the  scandal  which,  by  so  doing,  he  was  likely  to 
bring  upon  himself,  was  one  of  the  first  who  attacked 
the  vulgar  belief,  and  boldly  assailed,  both  by  se¬ 
rious  arguments  and  by  ridicule,  the  vulgar  credulity 
on  the  subject  of  wizards  and  witches. 

Gabriel  Naude,  or  Naudaeus,  as  he  termed  hint- 


1G4 


LETTERS  ON 


self,  was  a  perfect  scholar  and  man  of  letters,  busied 
during  his  whole  life  with  assembling  books  together, 
and  enjoying  the  office  of  librarian  to  several  per¬ 
sons  of  high  rank,  among  others,  to  Queen  Christina 
of  Sweden.  He  was,  besides,  a  beneficed  clergy¬ 
man,  leading  a  most  unblemished  life,  and  so  tem¬ 
perate,  as  never  to  taste  any  liquor  stronger  than 
water ;  yet  did  he  not  escape  the  scandal  which  is 
usually  flung  by  their  prejudiced  contemporaries 
upon  those  disputants  whom  it  is  found  more  easy 
to  defame  than  to  answer.  He  wrote  an  interesting 
work,  entitled,  “  Apologie  pour  les  Grands  Hommes 
Accuses  de  Magie and  as  he  exhibited  a  good 
deal  of  vivacity  of  talent,  and  an  earnestness  in 
pleading  his  cause,  which  did  not  always  spare  some 
of  the  superstitions  of  Rome  herself,  he  was  charged 
by  his  contemporaries  as  guilty  of  heresy  and  skep¬ 
ticism,  when  justice  could  only  accuse  him  of  an  in¬ 
cautious  eagerness  to  make  good  his  argument. 

Among  persons  who,  upon  this  subject,  purged 
their  eyes  with  rue  and  euphrasie,  besides  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Harsnet,  and  many  others  (who  wrote  rather  on 
special  cases  of  Demonology  than  on  the  general 
question),  Reginald  Scot  ought  to  be  distinguished. 
Webster  assures  us,  that  he  was  a  “  person  of  com¬ 
petent  learning,  pious,  and  of  a  good  family.”  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  zealous  Protestant,  and  much 
of  his  book,  as  well  as  that  of  Harsnet,  is  designed 
to  throw  upon  the  Papists  in  particular  those  tricks, 
in  which,  by  confederacy  and  imposture,  the  popular 
ideas  concerning  witchcraft,  possession,  and  other 
supernatural  fancies  were  maintained  and  kept  in 
exercise ;  but  he  also  writes  on  the  general  question 
with  some  force  and  talent,  considering  that  his  sub¬ 
ject  is  incapable  of  being  reduced  into  a  regular 
form,  and  is  of  a  nature  particularly  seductive  to  an 
excursive  talent.  He  appears  to  have  studied  leger¬ 
demain  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  much  that 
is  apparently  unaccountable  can  nevertheless  be 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


165 


performed  without  the  intervention  of  supernatural 
assistance,  even  when  it  is  impossible  to  persuade 
the  vulgar  that  the  Devil  has  not  been  consulted  on 
the  occasion.  Scot  also  had  intercourse  with  some 
of  the  celebrated  fortune-tellers,  or  Philomaths,  of 
the  time ;  one  of  whom  he  brings  forward  to  declare 
the  vanity  of  the  science  which  he  himself  had  once 
professed. 

To  defend  the  popular  belief  of  witchcraft,  there 
arose  a  number  of  advocates,  of  whom  Bodin,  and 
some  others,  neither  wanted  knowledge  nor  powers 
of  reasoning.  They  pressed  the  incredulous  party 
with  the  charge  that  they  denied  the  existence  of  a 
crime  against  which  the  law  had  denounced  a  capi¬ 
tal  punishment.  As  that  law  was  understood  to  ema¬ 
nate  from  James  himself,  who  was  reigning  monarcli 
during  the  hottest  part  of  the  controversy,  the  Eng¬ 
lish  authors  who  defended  the  opposite  side  were 
obliged  to  intrench  themselves  under  an  evasion,  to 
avoid  maintaining  an  argument  unpalatable  to  a  de¬ 
gree  to  those  in  power,  and  which  might  perchance 
have  proved  unsafe  to  those  who  used  it.  With  a 
certain  degree  of  sophistry,  they  answered,  that  they 
did  not  doubt  the  possibility  of  witches,  but  only  de¬ 
murred  to  what  is  their  nature,  and  how  they  came 
to  be  such — according  to  the  scholastic  jargon,  that 
the  question  in  respect  to  witches,  was  not  de  exis - 
lentia,  but  only  de  modo  existendi. 

By  resorting  to  so  subtle  an  argument,  those  who 
impugned  the  popular  belief  were  obliged,  with  some 
inconsistency,  to  grant  that  witchcraft  had  existed, 
and  might  exist,  only  insisting  that  it  was  a  species 
of  witchcraft  consisting  of  they  knew  not  what,  but 
certainly  of  something  different  from  that  which 
legislators,  judges,  and  juries  had  hitherto  consi¬ 
dered  the  statute  as  designed  to  repress. 

In  the  mean  time  (the  rather  that  the  debate  was 
on  a  subject  particularly  difficult  of  comprehension), 
the  debating  parties  grew  warm,  and  began  to  call 


166 


LETTERS  ON 


names.  Bodin,  a  lively  Frenchman  of  an  irritable 
habit,  explained  the  zeal  of  Wierus  to  protect  the 
tribe  of  sorcerers  from  punishment,  by  stating,  that 
he  himself  was  a  conjurer,  and  the  scholar  of  Cor¬ 
nelius  Agrippa,  and  might  therefore  well  desire  to 
save  the  lives  of  those  accused  of  the  same  league 
with  Satan.  Hence  they  threw  on  their  antagonists 
the  offensive  names  of  witch-patrons  and  witch- 
advocates,  as  if  it  were  impossible  for  any  to  hold 
the  opinion  of  Naudaeus,  Wierus,  Scot,  &c.,  without 
patronising  the  Devil  and  the  witches  against  their 
brethren  of  mortality.  Assailed  by  such  heavy 
charges,  the  philosophers  themselves  lost  patience, 
and  retorted  abuse  in  their  turn,  calling  Bodin,  Del- 
rio,  and  others  who  used  their  arguments,  witch- 
advocates,  and  the  like,  as  the  affirming  and  defend¬ 
ing  the  existence  of  the  crime  seemed  to  increase 
the  number  of  witches,  and  assuredly  augmented  the 
list  of  executions.  But,  for  a  certain  time,  the  pre¬ 
ponderance  of  the  argument  lay  on  the  side  of  the 
Demonologists,  and  we  may  briefly  observe  the 
causes  which  gave  their  opinions,  for  a  period,  greater 
influence  than  their  opponents,  on  the  public  mind. 

It  is  first  to  be  observed,  that  Wierus,  for  what 
reason  cannot  well  be  conjectured,  except  to  show 
the  extent  of  his  cabalistical  knowledge,  had  intro¬ 
duced  into  his  work  against  witchcraft  the  whole 
Stenographia  of  Trithemius,  which  he  had  copied 
from  the  original  in  the  library  of  Cornelius  Agrippa ; 
and  which,  suspicious  from  the  place  where  he  found 
it,  and  from  the  long  catalogue  of  fiends  which  it 
contained,  with  the  charms  for  raising  and  for  bind¬ 
ing  them  to  the  service  of  mortals,  was  considered 
by  Bodin  as  containing  proof  that  Wierus  himself 
was  a  sorcerer;  not  one  of  the  wisest,  certainly,  since 
he  thus  unnecessarily  placed  at  the  disposal  of  any 
who  might  buy  the  book,  the  whole  secrets  which 
formed  his  stock  in  trade. 

Secondly,  we  may  notice,  that,  front  the  state  of 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  167 

physical  science  at  the  period  when  Van  Helmont, 
Paracelsus,  and  others  began  to  penetrate  into  its 
recesses,  it  was  an  unknown,  obscure,  and  ill-defined 
region,  and  did  not  permit  those  who  laboured  in  it 
to  give  that  precise  and  accurate  account  of  theii 
discoveries,  which  the  progress  of  reasoning  experi¬ 
mentally,  and  from  analysis,  has  enabled  the  late 
discoverers  to  do  with  success.  Natural  magic,  a 
phrase  used  to  express  those  phenomena  which 
could  be  produced  by  a  knowledge  of  the  properties 
of  matter,  had  so  much  in  it  that  was  apparently  un¬ 
combined  and  uncertain,  that  the  art  of  chyinistry 
was  accounted  mystical,  and  an  opinion  prevailed, 
that  the  results  now  known  to  be  the  consequence 
of  laws  of  matter,  could  not  be  traced  through  their 
various  combinations,  even  by  those  who  knew  the 
effects  themselves.  Physical  science,  in  a  word, 
was  cumbered  by  a  number  of  fanciful  and  incorrect 
opinions,  chiefly  of  a  mystical  character.  If,  for 
instance,  it  was  observed  that  a  flag  and  a  fern 
never  grew  near  each  other,  the  circumstance  was 
imputed  to  some  antipathy  between  these  vegetables ; 
nor  was  it  for  some  time  resolved  by  the  natural 
rule,  that  the  flag  has  its  nourishment  in  marshy 
ground,  whereas  the  fern  loves  a  deep  dryish  soil. 
The  attributes  of  the  divining-rod  were  fully  cre¬ 
dited  ;  the  discovery  of  the  philosopher’s  stone  was 
daily  hoped  for;  and  electricity,  magnetism,  and 
other  remarkable  and  misconceived  phenomena 
were  appealed  to  as  proof  of  the  reasonableness  of 
their  expectations.  Until  such  phenomena  were 
traced  to  their  sources,  imaginary  and  often  mystical 
causes  were  assigned  to  them,  for  the  same  reason 
that,  in  the  wilds  of  a  partially  discovered  country, 
according  to  the  satirist, 

“  Geographers  on  pathless  downs 
Place  elephants  for  want  of  towns.” 

This  substitution  of  mystical  fancies  for  expert- 


168 


LETTERS  ON 


mental  reasoning,  gave,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven¬ 
teenth  centuries,  a  doubtful  and  twilight  appearance 
to  the  various  branches  of  physical  philosophy.  The 
learned  and  sensible  Dr.  Webster,  for  instance, 
writing  in  detection  of  supposed  witchcraft,  as¬ 
sumes,  as  a  string  of  undeniable  facts,  opinions 
which  our  more  experienced  age  would  reject  as 
frivolous  fancies ;  “  for  example,  the  effects  of  heal¬ 
ing  by  the  weapon-salve,  the  sympathetic  powder, 
the  curing  of  .various  diseases  by  apprehensions, 
amulets,  or  by  transplantation.”  All  of  which  un¬ 
doubted  wonders  he  accuses  the  age  of  desiring  to 
throw  on  the  Devil’s  back — an  unnecessary  load, 
certainly,  since  such  things  do  not  exist,  and  it  is 
therefore  in  vain  to  seek  to  account  for  them.  It 
followed,  that  while  the  opposers  of  the  ordinary 
theory  might  have  struck  the  deepest  blows  at  the 
witch-hypothesis  by  an  appeal  to  common  sense, 
they  were  themselves  hampered  by  articles  of  phi¬ 
losophical  belief,  which,  they  must  have  been  sen¬ 
sible,  contained  nearly  as  deep  draughts  upon  human 
credulity  as  were  made  by  the  Demonologists, 
against  whose  doctrine  they  protested.  This  error 
had  a  doubly  bad  effect,  both  as  degrading  the  imme¬ 
diate  department  in  which  it  occurred,  and  as  afford¬ 
ing  a  protection  for  falsehood  in  other  branches  of 
science.  The  champions  who,  in  their  own  pro¬ 
vince,  were  obliged  by  the  imperfect  knowledge  ot 
the  times,  to  admit  much  that  was  mystical  and  in¬ 
explicable — those  who  opined,  with  Bacon,  that  warts 
could  be  cured  by  sympathy — who  thought,  with 
Napier,  that  hidden  treasures  could  be  discovered 
by  the  mathematics — who  salved  the  weapon  instead 
of  the  wound,  and  detected  murders  as  well  as 
springs  of  water  by  the  divining-rod,  could  not  con¬ 
sistently  use,  to  confute  the  believers  in  witches,  an 
argument  turning  on  the  impossible  or  the  incredible. 

Such  were  the  obstacles  arising  from  the  vanity 
of  philosophers  and  the  imperfection  of  their  science. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  169 

which  suspended  the  strength  of  their  appeal  to 
reason  and  common  sense  against  the  condemning 
of  wretches  to  a  cruel  death,  on  account  of  crimes 
which  the  nature  of  things  rendered  in  modern  times 
totally  impossible.  We  cannot  doubt  that  they  suf¬ 
fered  considerably  in  the  contest,  which  was  carried 
on  with  much  anger  and  malevolence ;  but  the  good 
seed  which  they  had  sown  remained  uncorrupted  in 
the  soil,  to  bear  fruit  so  soon  as  the  circumstances 
should  be  altered  which  at  first  impeded  its  growth. 
In  the  next  letter  I  shall  take  a  view  of  the  causes 
which  helped  to  remove  these  impediments — in  ad¬ 
dition,  it  must  always  be  remembered,  to  the  general 
increase  of  knowledge  and  improvement  of  experi¬ 
mental  philosophy. 


LETTER  VII. 

Penal  Laws  unpopular  when  rigidly  exercised — Prosecution  of  Witche* 
placed  in  the  Hand  of  Special  Commissioners,  ad  inquirendum — Pro¬ 
secution  for  Witchcraft  not  frequent  in  the  elder  Period  of  the 
Roman  Empire — Nor  in  the  Middle  Ages — Some  Cases  took  place, 
however — The  Maid  of  Orleans — The  Dutchess  of  Gloucester— 
Richard  the  Thud's  Charge  against  the  Relations  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager— But  Prosecutions  against  Sorcerers  became  more  common 
in  the  End  of  the  fourteenth  Century — Usually  united  with  the  Charge 
of  Heresy — Monstrelet’s  Arcount  of  the  Persecution  against  the  Wal- 
denses,  under  Pretext  of  Witchcraft — Florimond’s  Testimony  con¬ 
cerning  the  Increase  of  Witches  in  his  own  Time — Bull  of  Pope  In¬ 
nocent  VIII. — Various  Prosecutions  in  foreign  Countries  under  this 
severe  Law — Prosecutions  in  Labourt,  by  the  Inquisitor  De  Lancrs 
and  his  Colleague — Lycanthropy— Witches  in  Spain — in  Sweden — 
And  particularly  those  apprehended  at  Mohra. 

Penal  laws,  like  those  of  the  middle  ages  de¬ 
nounced  against  witchcraft,  may  be  at  first  haded 
with  unanimous  acquiescence  and  approbation ;  but 
are  uniformly  found  to  disgust  and  offend,  at  least 
the  more  sensible  part  of  the  public,  when  the  pu¬ 
nishments  become  frequent,  and  are  relentlessly  in- 

P 


170 


LETTERS  ON 


flicted.  Those  against  treason  are  no  exception. 
Each  reflecting  government  will  do  well  to  shorten 
that  melancholy  reign  of  terror,  which,  perhaps,  must 
necessarily  follow  on  the  discovery  of  a  plot,  or  the 
defeat  of  an  insurrection.  They  ought  not,  either 
in  humanity  or  policy,  to  wait  till  the  voice  of  the 
nation  calls  to  them,  as  Mecaenas  to  Augustus, 
“  Surge  tandem ,  camifex!” 

It  is  accordingly  remarkable,  in  different  coun¬ 
tries,  how  often,  at  some  particular  period  of  their 
history,  there  occurred  an  epidemic  terror  of  witches, 
which,  as  fear  is  always  cruel  and  credulous,  glutted 
the  public  with  seas  of  innocent  blood — and  how 
uniformly  men  loathed  the  gore,  after  having  swal¬ 
lowed  it,  and  by  a  reaction  natural  to  the  human 
mind,  desired  in  prudence  to  take  away  or  restrict 
those  laws,  which  had  been  the  source  of  carnage, 
in  order  that  their  posterity  might  neither  have  the 
will  nor  the  means  to  enter  into  similar  excesses. 

A  short  review  of  foreign  countries  before  we 
come  to  notice  the  British  islands  and  their  colonies, 
will  prove  the  truth  of  this  statement.  In  Catholic 
countries  on  the  continent,  the  various  kingdoms 
adopted  readily  that  part  of  the  civil  law  already 
mentioned,  which  denounces  sorcerers  and  witches 
as  rebels  to  God,  and  authors  of  sedition  in  the  em¬ 
pire.  But  being  considered  as  obnoxious  equally  to 
the  canon  and  civil  law,  Commissions  of  Inquisition 
were  especially  empowered  to  weed  out  of  the  land 
the  witches  and  those  who  had  intercourse  with 
familiar  spirits,  or  in  any  other  respect  fell  under  the 
ban  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  the  heretics  who  pro¬ 
mulgated  or  adhered  to  false  doctrine.  Special 
warrants  were  thus  granted  from  time  to  time  in  be¬ 
half  of  such  inquisitors,  authorizing  them  to  visit 
those  provinces  of  Germany,  France,  or  Italy,  where 
any  report  concerning  witches  or  sorcery  had  alarmed 
the  public  mind ;  and  those  commissioners,  proud  of 
the  trust  reposed  in  them,  thought  it  becoming  to 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  171 

use  the  utmost  exertions  on  their  part  that  the  sub¬ 
tlety  of  the  examinations,  and  the  severity  of  the 
tortures  they  inflicted,  might  wring  the  truth  out  of 
all  suspected  persons,  until  they  rendered  the  pro¬ 
vince  in  which  they  exercised  their  jurisdiction  a 
desert  from  which  the  inhabitants  fled.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  give  credit  to  the  extent  of  this  delu¬ 
sion,  had  not  some  of  the  inquisitors  themselves 
been  reporters  of  their  own  judicial  exploits:  the 
same  hand  which  subscribed  the  sentence  has  re¬ 
corded  the  execution. 

In  the  earlier  period  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
witchcraft  is  frequently  alluded  to,  and  a,  capital 
punishment  assigned  to  those  Avho  were  supposed 
to  have  accomplished  by  sorcery  the  death  of  others, 
or  to  have  attempted,  by  false  prophecies,  or  other¬ 
wise,  under  pretext  of  consulting  with  the  spiritual 
world,  to  make  innovation  in  the  state.  But  no 
general  denunciation  against  witchcraft  itself,  as  a 
league  Avith  the  enemy  of  man,  or  desertion  of  the 
Deity,  and  a  crime  sui  generis,  appears  to  have  been 
so  acted  upon,  until  the  later  period  of  the  six¬ 
teenth  century,  Avhen  the  Papal  system  had  attained 
its  highest  pitch  of  poAver  and  of  corruption.  The 
influence  of  the  churchmen  was,  in  early  times,  se¬ 
cure,  and  they  rather  endeavoured,  by  the  fabrica¬ 
tion  of  false  miracles,  to  prolong  the  blind  vene¬ 
ration  of  the  people,  than  to  vex  others,  and  weary 
themselves,  by  secret  investigations  into  dubious 
and  mystical  trespasses,  in  which,  probably,  the 
higher  and  better  instructed  members  of  the  clerical 
order  put  as  little  faith  at  that  time,  as  they  do  noAV. 
Did  there  remain  a  mineral  fountain,  respected  for 
the  cures  which  it  had  Avrought,  a  huge  oak-tree,  or 
venerated  mount,  which  beauty  of  situation  had 
recommended  to  traditional  respect,  the  fathers  of 
the  Roman  Church  were  in  policy  reluctant  to 
abandon  such  impressive  spots,  or  to  represent  them 
%s  exclusively  the  rendezvous  of  witches,  or  of  evil 


172 


LETTERS  ON 


spirits.  On  the  contrary,  by  assigning  the  virtues 
of  the  spring,  or  the  beauty  of  the  tree,  to  the  guar¬ 
dianship  of  some  saint,  they  acquired,  as  it  were, 
for  the  defence  of  their  own  doctrine,  a  frontier  for¬ 
tress  which  they  wrested  from  the  enemy,  and 
which  it  was  at  least  needless  to  dismantle,  if  it 
could  be  conveniently  garrisoned  and  defended. 
Thus,  the  Church  secured  possession  of  many 
beautiful  pieces  of  scenery,  as  Mr.  Whitefield  is  said 
to  have  grudged  to  the  Devil  the  monopoly  of  all  the 
fine  tunes. 

It  is  true,  that  this  policy  was  not  uniformly  ob¬ 
served.  The  story  of  the  celebrated  Jeanne  d’Arc, 
called  fhe  Maid  of  Orleans,  preserves  the  memory 
of  such  a  custom,  which  was  in  that  case  turned  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  poor  woman  who  observed  it. 

It  is  well  known  that  this  unfortunate  female  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  English,  after  having,  by  her 
courage  and  enthusiasm  manifested  on  many  im¬ 
portant  occasions,  revived  the  drooping  courage  of 
the  French,  and  inspired  them  with  the  hope  of  once 
more  freeing  their  country.  The  English  vulgar 
regarded  her  as  a  sorceress — the  French  as  an  in¬ 
spired  heroine ;  while  the  wise  on  both  sides  con¬ 
sidered  her  as  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  but  a 
tool  used  by  the  celebrated  Dunois,  to  play  the  part 
which  he  assigned  her.  The  Duke  of  Bedford,  when 
the  ill-starred  Jeanne  fell  into  his  hands,  took  away 
her  life,  in  order  to  stigmatize  her  memory  with  sor¬ 
cery,  and  to  destroy  the  reputation  she  had  acquired 
among  the  French.  The  mean  recurrence  to  such 
a  charge  against  such  a  person  had  no  more  suc¬ 
cess  than  it  deserved,  although  Jeanne  was  con¬ 
demned,  both  by  the  Parliament  of  Bourdeaux  and 
the  University  of  Paris.  Her  endictment  accused 
her  of  having  frequented  an  ancient  oak-tree,  and 
a  fountain  arising  under  it,  called  the  Fated  or  Fairy 
Oak  of  Bourlemont.  Here  she  was  stated  to  have 
repaired,  during  the  hours  of  divine  service,  dancing, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


173 


skipping,  and  making  gestures,  around  the  tree  and 
fountain,  and  hanging  on  the  branches,  chaplets,  and 
garlands  of  flowers,  gathered  for  the  purpose,  re¬ 
viving,  doubtless,  the  obsolete  idolatry  which  in  an¬ 
cient  times  had  been  rendered  on  the  same  spot  to 
the  Genius  Loci.  The  charmed  sword  and  blessed 
banner,  which  she  had  represented  as  signs  of  her 
celestial  mission,  were,  in  this  hostile  charge  against 
her,  described  as  enchanted  implements,  designed 
by  the  fiends  and  fairies  whom  she  worshipped,  to 
accomplish  her  temporary  success.  The  death  of 
the  innocent,  high-minded,  and  perhaps  amiable  en¬ 
thusiast  was  not,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  a  sacrifice  to 
a  superstitious  fear  of  witchcraft,  but  a  cruel  in¬ 
stance  of  wicked  policy,  mingled  with  national 
jealousy  and  hatred. 

To  the  same  cause,  about  the  same  period,  we 
may  impute  the  trial  of  the  Dutchess  of  Gloucester, 
wife  of  the  good  Duke  Humphrey,  accused  of  con¬ 
sulting  witches  concerning  the  mode  of  compassing 
the  death  of  her  husband’s  nephew,  Henry  VI. 
The  Dutchess  was  condemned  to  do  penance,  and 
thereafter  banished  to  the  Isle  of  Man,  while  several 
of  her  accomplices  died  in  prison,  or  were  executed. 
But  in  this  instance,  also,  the  alleged  witchcraft  was 
only  the  ostensible  cause  of  a  procedure  which  had 
its  real  source  in  the  deep  hatred  between  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester  and  Cardinal  Beaufort,  his  half- 
brother.  The  same  pretext  was  used  by  Richard  III., 
when  he  brought  the  charge  of  sorcery  against  the 
Queen-Dowager,  Jane  Shore,  and  the  queen’s  kins¬ 
men;  and  yet  again  was,  by  that  unscrupulous 
prince,  directed  against  Morton,  afterward  Arch¬ 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  and  other  adherents  of  the 
Earl  of  Richmond.  The  accusation,  in  both  cases, 
was  only  chosen  as  a  charge  easily  made,  and  diffi¬ 
cult  to  be  eluded  or  repelled. 

But,  in  the  mean  while,  as  the  accusation  of  witch 
craft  thus  afforded  to  tyranny,  or  policy,  the  ready 

P  2 


174 


LETTERS  ON 


means  of  assailing  persons  whom  it  might  not  have 
been  possible  to  convict  of  any  other  crime,  the 
aspersion  itself  was  gradually  considered  with  in¬ 
crease  of  terror,  as  spreading  wider  and  becoming 
more  contagious.  So  early  as  the  year  1398,  the 
University  of  Paris,  in  laying  down  rides  for  the 
judicial  prosecuting  of  witches,  express  their  regret 
that  the  crime  was  growing  more  frequent  than  in 
any  former  age.  The  more  severe  inquiries  and  fre¬ 
quent  punishments,  by  which  the  judges  endeavoured 
to  check  the  progress  of  this  impious  practice,  seem 
to  have  increased  the  disease ; — as,  indeed,  it  has 
been  always  remarked,  that  those  morbid  affections 
of  mind  which  depend  on  the  imagination  are  sure 
to  become  more  common,  in  proportion  as  public  at¬ 
tention  is  fastened  on  stories  connected  with  their 
display. 

In  the  same  century,  schisms,  arising  from  differ¬ 
ent  causes,  greatly  alarmed  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  universal  spirit  of  inquiry  which  was  now  afloat, 
taking  a  different  direction  in  different  countries,  had, 
in  almost  all  of  them,  stirred  up  a  skeptical  dissatis¬ 
faction  with  the  dogmas  of  the  Church, — such  views 
being  rendered  more  creditable  to  the  poorer  classes 
through  the  corruption  of  maimers  among  the  clergy, 
too  many  of  whom  wealth  and  ease  had  caused  to 
neglect  that  course  of  morality  which  best  recom¬ 
mends  religious  doctrine.  In  almost  every  nation  in 
Europe,  there  lurked,  in  the  crowded  cities,  or  wild 
solitude  of  the  country,  sects  who  agreed  chiefly  in 
their  animosity  to  the  supremacy  of  Rome,  and  their 
desire  to  cast  off  her  domination.  The  W aldenses  and 
Albigenses  were  parties  existing  in  great  numbers 
through  the  south  of  France.  Romanists  became  ex¬ 
tremely  desirous  to  combine  the  doctrine  of  the  he¬ 
retics  with  witchcraft,  which,  according  to  their  ac¬ 
count,  abounded  especially  where  the  Protestants 
were  most  numerous ;  and  the  bitterness  increasing, 
they  scrupled  not  to  throw  the  charge  of  sorcery,  as 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


175 


a  matter  of  course,  upon  those  who  dissented  from 
the  Catholic  standard  of  faith.  The  Jesuit  De'lrio 
alleges^everal  reasons  for  the  affinity  which  he  con¬ 
siders  as  existing  between  the  Protestant  and  the 
sorcerer;  he  accuses  the  former  of  embracing  the 
opinion  of  Wierus,  and  other  defenders  of  the  Devil 
(as  he  calls  all  who  oppose  his  own  opinions  con¬ 
cerning  witchcraft), — thus  fortifying  the  kingdom  of 
Satan  against  that  of  the  Church.* 

A  remarkable  passage  in  Monstrelet  puts  in  a  clear 
view  the  point  aimed  at  by  the  Catholics  in  thus  con¬ 
fusing  and  blending  the  doctrines  of  heresy  and  the 
practice  of  witchcraft,  and  how  a  meeting  of  inoffen¬ 
sive  Protestants  could  be  cunningly  identified  with  a 
Sabbath  of  hags  and  fiends. 

“In  this  year  [1459],  in  the  town  of  Arras,  and 
county  of  Artois,  arose,  through  a  terrible  and  me¬ 
lancholy  chance,  an  opinion  called,  I  know  not  why, 
the  Religion  of  Vaudoisie.  This  sect  consisted,  it  is 
said,  of  certain  persons,  both  pren  and  women,  who, 
under  cloud  of  night,  by  the  power  of  the  Devil,  re¬ 
paired  to  some  solitary  spot,  amid  woods  and  deserts, 
where  the  Devil  appeared  before  them  in  a  human 
form,  save  that  his  visage  is  never  perfectly  visible 
to  them, — read  to  the  assembly  a  book  of  his  ordi¬ 
nances,  informing  them  how  he  would  be  obeyed, — 
distributed  a  very  little  money,  and  a  plentiful  meal, 
which  was  concluded  by  a  scene  of  general  profli¬ 
gacy, — after  which,  each  one  of  the  party  was  con¬ 
veyed  home  to  her  or  Iris  own  habitation. 

“  On  accusations  of  access  to  such  acts  of  mad¬ 
ness,”  continues  Monstrelet,  “several  creditable 
persons  of  the  town  of  Arras  were  seized  and  impri¬ 
soned,  along  with  some  foolish  women  and  persons 
of  little  consequence.  These  were  so  horribly  tor¬ 
tured,  that  some  of  them  admitted  the  truth  of  the 
whole  accusations,  and  said,  besides,  that  they  had 


*  Delrio,  de  Magia.  See  the  Preface. 


176 


LETTERS  ON 


seen  and  recognised  in  their  nocturnal  assembly, 
many  persons  of  rank,  prelates,  seigneurs,  and  go¬ 
vernors  of  bailliages  and  cities,  being  such  ri^mes  as 
the  examinators  had  suggested  to  the  persons  exa¬ 
mined,  while  they  constrained  them  by  torture  to 
impeach  the  persons  to  whom  they  belonged.  Se¬ 
veral  of  those  who  had  been  thus  informed  against 
were  arrested,  thrown  into  prison,  and  tortured  for 
so  long  a  time,  that  they  also  were  obliged  to  confess 
what  was  charged  against  them.  After  this,  those  of 
mean  condition  were  executed  and  inhumanly  burned, 
while  the  richer  and  more  powerful  of  the  accused 
ransomed  themselves  by  sums  erf  money,  to  avoid 
the  punishment  and  the  shame  attending  it.  Many 
even  of  those  also  confessed  being  persuaded  to  take 
that  course  by  the  interrogators,  who  promised  them 
indemnity  for  life  and  fortune.  Some  there  were,  of 
a  truth,  who  suffered,  with  marvellous  patience  and 
constancy,  the  torments  inflicted  on  them,  and  would 
confess  nothing  imputed  to  their  charge ;  but  they, 
too,  had  to  give  large  sums  to  the  judges,  who  ex¬ 
acted  that  such  of  them  as,  notwithstanding  their 
mishandling,  were  still  able  to  move,  should  banish 
themselves  from  that  part  of  the  country.”  Mon- 
strelet  winds  up  this  shocking  narrative  by  informing 
us,  “  that  it  ought  not  to  be  concealed,  that  the  whole 
accusation  was  a  stratagem  of  wicked  men  for  their 
own  covetous  purposes,  and  in  order,  by  these  false 
accusations  and  forced  confessions,  to  destroy  the 
life,  fame,  and  fortune  of  wreal  thy  persons.” 

Delrio  himself  confesses  that  Franciscus  Balduinus 
gives  an  account  of  the  pretended  punishment,  but 
real  persecution,  of  these  Waldenses,  in  similar  terms 
with  Monstrelet, whose  suspicions  are  distinctly  spo¬ 
ken  out,  and  adds,  that  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  hav¬ 
ing  heard  the  affair  by  appeal,  had  declared  the  sen¬ 
tence  illegal,  and  the  judges  iniquitous,  by  an  arret, 
dated  20th  May,  1491.  The  Jesuit  Delrio  quotes  the 
Dassage,  but  adheres  with  lingering  reluctance,  to 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


177 


the  truth  of  the  accusation. — “The  Waldenses  (of 
whom  the  Albigenses  are  a  species)  were,”  he  says, 
“  never  free  from  the  most  wretched  excess  of  fasci¬ 
nation  and  finally,  though  he  allows  the  conduct  of 
the  judges  to  have  been  most  odious,  he  cannot  pre¬ 
vail  on  himself  to  acquit  the  parties  charged,  by  such 
interested  accusers,  with  horrors,  which  should  hardly 
have  been  found  proved  even  upon  the  most  distinct 
evidence.  He  appeals  on  this  occasion  to  Flori- 
mond’s  work  on  Antichrist.  The  introduction  of  that 
work  deserves  to  be  quoted,  as  strongly  illustrative 
of  the  condition  to  which  the  country  was  reduced, 
and  calculated  to  make  an  impression  the  very  re¬ 
verse  probably  of  that  which  the  writer  would  have 
desired. 

“  All  those  who  have  afforded  us  some  signs  of  the 
approach  of  Antichrist,  agree  that  the  increase  of 
sorcery  and  witchcraft  is  to  distinguish  the  melan¬ 
choly  period  of  his  advent ;  and  was  ever  age  so  af¬ 
flicted  with  them  as  ours  1  The  seats  destined  for 
criminals  before  our  judicatories  are  blackened  with 
persons  accused  of  this  guilt.  There  are  not  judges 
enough  to  try  them.  Our  dungeons  are  gorged  with 
them.  No  day  passes  that  we  do  not  render  our  tri¬ 
bunals  bloody  by  the  dooms  which  we  pronounce,  or 
in  which  we  do  not  return  to  our  homes  discounte¬ 
nanced  and  terrified  at  the  horrible  contents  of  the 
confessions  which  it  has  been  our  duty  to  hear.  And 
the  Devil  is  accounted  so  good  a  master,  that  we 
caimot  commit  so  great  a  number  of  his  slaves  to  the 
flames,  but  what  there  shall  arise  from  their  ashes  a 
number  sufficient  to  supply  their  place.”* 

This  last  statement,  by  which  it  appears  that  the 
most  active  and  unsparing  inquisition  was  taking 
place,  corresponds  with  the  historical  notices  of 
iepeated  persecutions  upon  this  dreadful  charge  of 
sorcery.  A  bull  of  Pope  Innocent  the  VIII.  rang 

*  Florimond  concerning  the  Antichrist,  cap.  7,  n.  5,  quoted  by  Delrio 
de  Magia,  p.  820 


178 


LETTERS  ON 


the  tocsin  against  this  formidable  ciime,  and  set 
forth  in  the  most  dismal  colours  the  guilt,  while  it 
stimulated  the  inquisitors  to  the  unsparing  discharge 
of  their  duty,  in  searching  out  and  punishing  the 
guilty.  “  It  is  come  to  our  ears,”  says  the  bull,  “  that 
numbers  of  both  sexes  do  not  avoid  to  have  inter¬ 
course  with  the  infernal  fiends,  and  that  by  their 
sorceries  they  afflict  both  man  and  beast ;  that  they 
blight  the  marriage-bed,  destroy  the  births  of  women, 
and  the  increase  of  cattle ;  they  blast  the  corn  on  the 
ground,  the  grapes  of  tne  vineyard,  the  fruits  of  the 
trees,  the  grass,  and  herbs  of  the  field.”  For  which 
reasons,  the  inquisitors  were  armed  with  the  apos¬ 
tolic  power,  and  called  upon  to  “  convict,  imprison, 
and  punish,”  and  so  forth. 

Dreadful  were  the  consequences  of  this  bull  all 
over  the  continent,  especially  in  Italy,  Germany,  and 
France.*  About  1485,  Cumanus  burned  as  witches 
forty-one  poor  women  in  one  year,  in  the  county  of 
Burlia.  In  the  ensuing  years,  he  continued  the  pro¬ 
secution  with  such  unremitting  zeal,  that  many  fled 
from  the  country. 

Alciatus  states,  that  an  inquisitor,  about  the  same 
period,  burned  a  hundred  sorcerers  in  Piedmont, 
and  persevered  in  his  inquiries  till  human  patience 
was  exhausted,  and  the  people  arose  and  drove  him 
out  of  the  country,  after  which  the  jurisdiction  was 
deferred  to  the  archbishop.  That  prelate  consulted 
Alciatus  himself,  who  had  just  then  obtained  his 
doctor’s  degree  in  civil  law,  to  which  he  was  after¬ 
ward  an  honour.  A  number  of  unfortunate  wretches 
were  brought  for  judgment,  fitter,  according  to  the 
civilian’s  opinion,  for  a  course  of  hellebore,  than  for 
the  stake.  Some  were  accused  of  having  dishonoured 
the  crucifix,  and  denied  their  salvation;  others  of 
having  absconded  to  keep  the  Devil’s  Sabbath,  in  spite 
of  bolts  and  bars ;  others  of  having  merely  joined 

*  Dr.  Hutchison  quotes  H  Institor,  105, 16J. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  179 

in  the  choral  dances  around  the  witches’  tree  of  ren¬ 
dezvous.  Several  of  their  husbands  and  relatives 
swore  that  they  were  in  bed  and  asleep  during  these 
pretended  excursions.  Alciatus  recommended  gen¬ 
tle  and  temperate  measures ;  and  the  minds  of  the 
country  became  at  length  composed.* 

In  1488,  the  country  four  leagues  around  Constance 
was  laid  waste  by  lightning  and  tempest,  and  two 
women  being,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  made  to  confess 
themselves  guilty  as  the  cause  of  the  devastation, 
suffered  death. 

About  1515,  five  hundred  persons  were  executed 
at  Geneva,  under  the  character  of  “Protestant 
witches;”  from  which  we  may  suppose  many  suffered 
for  heresy.  Forty-eight  witches  were  burned  at  Ra- 
vensburgh  within  four  years,  as  Hutchison  reports,  on 
the  authority  of  Mengho,  the  author  of  the  “  Malleus 
Maleficarum.”  In  Lorraine,  the  learned  inquisitor 
Remigius  boasts  that  he  put  to  death  nine  hundred 
people  in  fifteen  years.  As  many  were  banished 
from  that  country :  so  that  whole  towns  were  on  the 
point  of  becoming  desolate.  In  1524,  a  thousand 
persons  were  put  to  death  in  one  year  at  Como,  in 
Italy,  and  about  one  hundred  every  year  after  for 
several  years. f 

In  the  beginning  of  the  next  century,  the  persecu¬ 
tion  of  witches  broke  out  in  France  with  a  fury 
which  was  hardly  conceivable,  and  multitudes  were 
burned  amid  that  gay  and  lively  people.  Some  notion 
of  the  extreme  prejudice  of  their  judges  may  be 
drawn  from  the  words  of  one  of  the  inquisitors  them¬ 
selves,  Pierre  de  Lancre,  royal  counsellor  in  the 
Parliament  of  Bourdeaux,  with  whom  the  President 
Espaignel  was  joined  in  a  commission  to  inquire  into 
certain  acts  of  sorcery,  reported  to  have  been  com¬ 
mitted  in  Labourt  and  its  neighbourhood,  at  the  foot 


"*  Alciat.  Parent.  .Turis,  lib.  viii.  chap.  25. 
t  Bart,  de  Spina,  de  Strigilibus 


180 


LETTERS  ON 


of  the  Pyrenees,  about  the  month  of  May,  1619.  A 
few  extracts  from  the  preface  will  best  evince  the 
state  of  mind  in  which  lie  proceeded  to  the  discharge 
of  his  commission. 

His  story  assumes  the  form  of  a  narrative  of  a 
direct  war  between  Satan  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
Royal  Commissioners  on  the  other,  “  because,”  says 
Counsellor  de  Lancre,  with  self-complaisance,  “  no¬ 
thing  is  so  calculated  to  strike  terror  into  the  Fiend 
and  his  dominions,  as  a  commission  with  such  ple¬ 
nary  powers.” 

At  first,  Satan  endeavoured  to  supply  his  vassals 
who  were  brought  before  the  judges  with  strength 
to  support  the  examinations,  so  that  if,  by  intermis¬ 
sion  of  the  torture,  the  wretches  should  fall  into  a 
doze,  they  declared,  when  they  were  recalled  from 
it  to  the  question,  that  the  profound  stupor  “had 
something  of  Paradise  in  it, — being  gilded,”  said  the 
judge,  “with  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Devil 
though  in  all  probability,  it  rather  derived  its  channs 
from  the  natural  comparison  between  the  insensibility 
of  exhaustion,  and  the  previous  agony  of  acute  torture. 
The  judges  took  care  that  the  Fiend  seldom  obtained 
any  advantage  in  the  matter,  by  refusing  their  vic¬ 
tims,  in  most  cases,  any  interval  of  rest  or  sleep. 
Satan  then  proceeded,  in  the  way  of  direct  defiance, 
to  stop  the  mouth  of  the  accused  openly,  and  by 
mere  force,  with  something  like  a  visible  obstruction 
in  their  throat.  Notwithstanding  this,  to  put  the 
Devil  to  shame,  some  of  the  accused  found  means,  in 
spite  of  him,  to  confess  and  be  hanged,  or  rather 
burned.  The  Fiend  lost  much  credit  by  his  failure  on 
this  occasion.  Before  the  formidable  commissioners 
arrived,  he  had  held  his  cour  pleniere  before  the  gates 
of  Bourdeaux,  and  in  the  square  of  the  palace  of  Ga- 
lienne,  whereas  he  was  now  insulted  publicly  by  his 
own  vassals,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  festival  of  the 
Sabbath,  the  children  and  relations  of  the  witches, 
who  had  suffered,  not  sticking  to  say  to  him,  “  Out 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  181 

upon  you !  your  promise  was,  that  our  mothers  who 
were  prisoners  should  not  die ;  and  look  how  you 
have  kept  your  word  with  us!  They  have  been 
burned,  and  are  a  heap  of  ashes.”  To  appease  this 
mutiny,  Satan  had  two  evasions.  He  produced  illu¬ 
sory  fires,  and  encouraged  the  mutinous  to  walk 
through  them,  assuring  them  that  the  judicial  pile 
was  as  frigid  and  inoffensive  as  those  which  he  ex¬ 
hibited  to  them.  Again,  taking  his  refuge  in  lies,  of 
which  he  is  well  known  to  be  the  father,  he  stoutly 
affirmed  that  their  parents,  who  seemed  to  have  suf¬ 
fered,  were  safe  in  a  foreign  country,  and  that  if 
their  children  Avould  call  on  them  they  would  receive 
an  answer.  They  made  the  invocation  accordingly, 
and  Satan  answered  each  of  them  in  a  tone  which 
resembled  the  voice  of  the  lamented  parent,  almost 
as  successfully  as  Monsieur  Alexandre  could  have 
done . 

Proceeding  to  a  yet  more  close  attack,  the  com¬ 
missioners,  on  the  eve  of  one  of  the  Fiend’s  Sab¬ 
baths,  placed  the  gibbet  on  which  they  executed 
their  victims  just  on  the  spot  where  Satan’s  gilded 
chair  was  usually  stationed.  The  Devil  was  much 
offended  at  such  an  affront,  and  yet  had  so  little 
power  in  the  matter,  that  he  could  only  express  his 
resentment  by  threats,  that  he  would  hang  Messieurs 
D’Amon  and  D’Urtubbe,  gentlemen  who  had  solicited 
and  promoted  the  issuing  of  the  commission,  and 
would  also  burn  the  commissioners  themselves  in 
their  own  fire.  We  regret  to  say,  that  Satan  was 
unable  to  execute  either  of  these  laudable  resolu¬ 
tions.  Ashamed  of  his  excuses,  he  abandoned  for 
three  or  four  sittings  his  attendance  on  the  Sabbaths, 
sending  as  his  representative  an  imp  of  subordinate 
account,  and  in  whom  no  one  reposed  confidence. 
When  he  took  courage  again  to  face  his  parliament, 
the  arch-fiend  covered  his  defection  by  assuring  them, 
that  he  had  been  engaged  in  a  lawsuit  with  the 
Deity,  which  he  had  gained  with  costs,  and  that  six- 

Q 


182 


LETTERS  ON 


score  of  infant  children  were  to  be  delivered  up  to 
him  in  name  of  damages,  and  the  witches  were 
directed  to  procure  such  victims  accordingly.  After 
this  grand  fiction,  he  confined  himself  to  the  petty 
vengeance  of  impeding  the  access  of  confessors  to 
the  condemned,  which  was  the  more  easy,  as  few  of 
them  could  speak  the  Basque  language.  I  have  no 
time  to  detail  the  ingenious  method  by  which  the 
learned  Counsellor  de  Lancre  explains  why  the 
district  of  Labourt  should  be  particularly  exposed 
to  the  pest  of  sorcery.  The  chief  reason  seems  to 
be,  that  it  is  a  mountainous,  a  steril,  and  a  border 
country,  where  the  men  are  all  fishers,  and  the 
women  smoke  tobacco,  and  wear  short  petticoats. 

To  a  person  who,  in  this  presumptuous,  trifling, 
and  conceited  spirit,  has  composed  a  quarto  volume, 
full  of  the  greatest  absurdities  and  grossest  obsceni¬ 
ties  ever  impressed  on  paper,  it  was  the  pleasure  of 
the  most  Christian  monarch  to  consign  the  most  ab¬ 
solute  power  which  could  be  exercised  on  these 
poor  people ;  and  he  might  with  as  much  prudence 
have  turned  a  ravenous  wolf  upon  an  undefended 
flock,  of  whom  the  animal  was  the  natural  enemy, 
as  they  were  his  natural  prey.  The  priest,  as  well 
as  the  ignorant  peasant,  fell  under  the  suspicion  of 
this  fell  commission;  and  De  Lancre  writes  with 
much  complacency,  that  the  accused  were  brought 
to  trial  to  the  number  of  forty  in  one  day, — with 
■what  chance  of  escape,  when  the  judges  were 
blinded  with  prejudice,  and  could  only  hear  the  evi¬ 
dence  and  the  defence  through  the  medium  of  an 
interpreter,  the  understanding  of  the  reader  may 
easily  anticipate. 

Among  other  gross  transgressions  of  the  most 
ordinary  rules,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  accused, 
in  what  their  judges  called  confessions,  contradicted 
each  other  at  every  turn  respecting  the  description 
of  the  Domdaniel  in  which  they  pretended  to  have 
been  assembled,  and  the  fiend  who  presided  there 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


183 


All  spoke  to  a  sort  of  gilded  throne ;  but  some  saw  a 
hideous  wild  he-goat  seated  there — some  a  man  dis¬ 
figured  and  twisted,  as  suffering  torture — some,  with 
better  taste,  beheld  a  huge  indistinct  form,  resembling 
one  of  those  mutilated  trunks  of  trees  found  in 
ancient  forests.  But  De  Lancre  was  no  “Daniel 
come  to  judgment,”  and  the  discrepance  of  evi¬ 
dence,  which  saved  the  life  and  fame  of  Susannah, 
made  no  impression  in  favour  of  the  sorcerers  of 
Labourt. 

Instances  occur  in  De  Lancre’s  book  of  the  trial 
and  condemnation  of  persons  accused  of  the  crime 
of  lycanthropy ,  a  superstition  which  was  chiefly 
current  in  France,  but  was  known  in  other  countries, 
and  is  the  subject  of  great  debate  between  Wier, 
Naudd,  Scot,  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  demonolo¬ 
gical  adversaries  on  the  other.  The  idea,  said  the 
one  party,  was,  that  a  human  being  had  the  power, 
by  sorcery,  of  transforming  himself  into  the  shape 
of  a  wolf,  and  in  that  capacity,  being  seized  with  a 
species  of  fury,  he  rushed  out,  and  made  havoc 
among  the  flocks,  slaying  and  wasting,  like  the  ani¬ 
mal  whom  he  represented,  far  more  than  he  could 
devour.  The  more  incredulous  reasoners  would  not 
allow  of  a  real  transformation,  whether  with  or  with¬ 
out  the  enchanted  hide  of  a  wolf,  which  in  some 
cases  was  supposed  to  aid  the  metamorphosis,  and 
contended  that  lycanthropy  only  subsisted  as  a  woful 
species  of  disease,  a  melancholy  state  of  mind, 
broken  with  occasional  fits  of  insanity,  in  which  the 
patient  imagined  that  he  committed  the  ravages  of 
which  he  was  accused.  Such  a  person,  a  mere 
youth,  was  tried  at  Besai^on,  who  gave  himself  out 
for  a  servant,  or  yeoman  pricker,  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Forest,  so  he  called  his  superior,  who  was  judged  to 
be  the  Devil.  He  was,  by  his  master’s  power,  trans¬ 
formed  into  the  likeness,  and  performed  the  usual 
functions,  of  a  wolf,  and  was  attended  in  his  course 
by  one  larger,  which  he  supposed  the  Lord  of  the 


184 


LETTERS  ON 


Forest  himself.  These  wolves,  he  said,  ravaged  the 
flocks,  and  throttled  the  dogs  which  stood  in  their 
defence.  If  either  had  not  seen  the  other,  he  howled, 
after  the  manner  of  the  animal,  to  call  his  comrade 
to  his  share  of  the  prey;  if  he  did  not  come  upon 
this  signal,  he  proceeded  to  bury  it  the  best  way  he 
could. 

Such  was  the  general  persecution  under  Messrs. 
Espaignel  and  De  Lancre.  Many  similar  scenes 
occurred  in  France,  till  the  edict  of  Louis  XIV.  dis¬ 
charging  all  future  prosecutions  for  witchcraft,  after 
which  the  crime  itself  was  heard  of  no  more.* 

While  the  spirit  of  superstition  was  working  such 
horrors  in  France,  it  was  not,  we  may  believe,  more 
idle  in  other  countries  of  Europe.  In  Spain  par¬ 
ticularly,  long  the  residence  of  the  Moors,  a  people 
putting  deep  faith  in  all  the  day-dreams  of  witch¬ 
craft,  good  and  evil  genii,  spells,  and  talismans,  the 
ardent  and  devotional  temper  of  the  old  Christians 
dictated  a  severe  research  after  sorcerers,  as  well 
as  heretics,  and  relapsed  Jews  or  Mahometans.  In 
former  times,  during  the  subsistence  of  the  Moorish 
kingdoms  in  Spain,  a  school  was  supposed  to  be  kept 
open  in  Toboso,  for  the  study,  it  is  said,  of  magic, 
but  more  likely  of  chymistry,  algebra,  and  other 
sciences,  which,  altogether  mistaken  by  the  ignorant 
and  vulgar,  and  imperfectly  understood  even  by  those 
who  studied  them,  were  supposed  to  be  allied  to 
necromancy,  or  at  least  to  natural  magic.  It  was, 
of  course,  the  business  of  the  inquisition  to  purify 
whatever  such  pursuits  had  left  of  suspicious  Catho¬ 
licism,  and  their  labours  cost  as  much  blood  on  ac¬ 
cusations  of  witchcraft  and  magic,  as  for  heresy  and 
relapse. 

Even  the  colder  nations  of  Europe  were  subject 
to  the  same  epidemic  terror  for  witchcraft,  and  a 
specimen  of  it  was  exhibited  in  the  sober  and  rational 

*  The  reader  may  sup  full  on  such  wild  horrors  in  the  Causet 
Calibres 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  185 


country  of  Sweden  about  the  middle  of  last  century, 
an  account  of  which,  being  translated  into  English 
by  a  respectable  clergyman,  Doctor  Hbmeck,  excited 
general  surprise  how  a  whole  people  could  be  im¬ 
posed  upon  to  the  degree  of  shedding  much  blood, 
and  committing  great  cruelty  and  injustice,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  idle  falsehoods  propagated  by  a  crew  of 
lying  children,  who,  in  this  case,  were  both  actors 
and  witnesses. 

The  melancholy  truth,  that  “  the  human  heart  is 
deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked,” 
is  by  nothing  proved  so  strongly  as  by  the  imperfect 
sense  displayed  by  children  of  the  sanctity  of  moral 
truth.  Both  the  gentlemen  and  the  mass  of  the 
people,  as  they  advance  in  years,  learn  to  despise 
and  avoid  falsehood ;  the  former  out  of  pride,  and 
from  a  remaining  feeling  derived  from  the  days  of 
chivalry,  that  the  character  of  a  liar  is  a  deadly  stain 
on  their  honour ;  the  other,  from  some  general  re¬ 
flection  upon  the  necessity  of  preserving  a  character 
for  integrity  in  the  course  of  life,  and  a  sense  of  the 
truth  of  the  common  adage,  that  “honesty  is  the 
best  policy.”  But  these  are  acquired  habits  of  think¬ 
ing.  The  child  has  no  natural  love  of  truth,  as  is 
experienced  by  all  who  have  the  least  acquaintance 
with  early  youth.  If  they  are  charged  with  a  fault, 
while  they  can  hardly  speak,  the  first  words  they 
stammer  forth  are  a  falsehood  to  excuse  it.  Nor  is 
this  all :  the  temptation  of  attracting  attention,  the 
pleasure  of  enjoying  importance,  the  desire  to  escape 
from  an  unpleasing  task,  or  accomplish  a  holyday, 
will  at  any  time  overcome  the  sentiment  of  truth,  so 
weak  is  it  within  them.  Hence  thieves  and  house¬ 
breakers,  from  a  surprisingly  early  period,  find  means 
of  rendering  children  useful  in  their  mystery:  nor 
■are  such  acolytes  found  to  evade, justice  with  less 
dexterity  than  the  more  advanced  rogues.  Where  a 
number  of  them  are  concerned  in  the  same  mischief, 
there  is  something  resembling  virtue  in  the  fidelity 


186 


LETTERS  ON 


with  which  the  common  secret  is  preserved.  Chil¬ 
dren,  under  the  usual  age  of  their  being  admitted  to 
give  evidence, 'were  necessarily  often  examined  in 
witch  trials ;  and  it  is  terrible  to  see  how  often  the 
little  impostors,  from  spite,  or  in  mere  gayety  of 
spirit,  have,  by  their  art  and  perseverance,  made 
shipwreck  of  men’s  lives.  But  it  would  be  hard  to 
discover  a  case,  which,  supported  exclusively  by  the 
evidence  of  children  (the  confessions  under  torture 
excepted),  and  obviously  existing  only  in  the  young 
witnesses’  own  imagination,  has  been  attended  with 
such  serious  consequences,  or  given  cause  to  so  ex¬ 
tensive  and  fatal  a  delusion,  as  that  which  occurred 
in  Sweden. 

The  scene  was  the  Swedish  village  of.Mohra,  in 
the  province  of  Elfland,  which  district  had  probably 
its  name  from  some  remnant  of  ancient  superstition. 
The  delusion  had  come  to  a  great  height  ere  it 
reached  the  ears  of  government,  when,  as  was  the 
general  procedure,  royal  commissioners  were  sent 
down,  men  well  fitted  for  the  duty  intrusted  to  them ; 
that  is,  with  ears  open  to  receive  the  incredibilities 
with  which  they  were  to  be  crammed,  and  hearts 
hardened  against  every  degree  of  compassion  to  the 
accused.  The  complaints  of  the  common  people, 
backed  by  some  persons  of  better  condition,  were,  that 
a  number  of  persons,  renowned  as  witches,  had  drawn 
several  hundred  children  of  all  classes  under  the 
Devil’s  authority.  They  demanded,  therefore,  the 
punishment  of  these  agents  of  hell,  reminding  the 
judges,  that  the  province  had  been  clear  of  witches 
since  the  burning  of  some  on  a  former  occasion. 
The  accused  were  numerous,  so  many  as  threescore 
and  ten  witches  and  sorcerers  being  seized  in  the 
village  of  Mohra ;  three-and-twenty  confessed  their 
crimes,  and  were  sent  to  Faluna,  where  most  of 
them  were  executed.  Fifteen  of  the  children  were 
also  led  to  death.  Six-and-thirty  of  those  who 
were  young  were  forced  to  run  the  gantlet,  as  it  is 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  187 

called,  and  were,  besides,  lashed  weekly  at  the  church 
doors  for  a  whole  year.  Twenty  of  the  youngest 
were  condemned  to  the  same  discipline  for  three 
days  only. 

The  process  seems  to  have  consisted  in  confront¬ 
ing  the  children  with  the  witches,  and  hearing  the 
extraordinary  story  which  the  former  insisted  upon 
maintaining.  The  children,  to  the  number  of  three 
hundred,  were  found  more  or  less  perfect  in  a  tale 
as  full  of  impossible  absurdities  as  ever  was  told 
round  a  nursery  fire.  Their  confession  ran  thus : 

They  were  taught  by  the  witches  to  go  to  a  cross 
way,  and  with  certain  ceremonies  to  invoke  the  Devil 
by  the  name  of  Antecessor,  begging  him  to  carry 
them  off  to  Blockula,  meaning,  perhaps,  the  Brock- 
enberg,  in  the  Hartz  forest,  a  mountain  infamous 
for  being  the  common  scene  of  witches’  meetings, 
and  to  which  Goethe  represents  the  spirit  Mephis- 
topheles  as  conducting  his  pupil  Faustus.  The  Devil 
courteously  appeared  at  the  call  of  the  children,  in 
various  forms,  but  chiefly  as  a  mad  Merry-Andrew, 
with  a  gray  coat,  red  and  blue  stockings,  a  red  beard, 
a  high-crowned  hat,  with  linen  of  various  colours 
wrapped  round  it,  and  garters  of  peculiar  length.  He 
set  each  child  on  some  beast  of  his  providing,  and 
anointed  them  with  a  certain  unguent  composed  of 
the  scrapings  of  altars,  and  the  filings  of  church- 
clocks.  There  is  here  a  discrepance  of  evidence 
which,  in  another  court,  would  have  cast  the  whole. 
Most  of  the  children  considered  their  journey  to  be 
corporeal  and  actual.  Some  supposed,  however, 
that  their  strength,  or  spirit,  only  travelled  with  the 
fiend,  and  that  their  body  remained  behind.  Very 
few  adppted  this  last  hypothesis,  though  the  parents 
unanimously  bore  witness,  that  the  bodies  of  the 
children  remained  in  bed,  and  could  not  be  awakened 
out  of  a  deep  sleep,  though  they  shook  them  for  the 
purpose  of  awakening  them.  So  strong  was,  never¬ 
theless,  the  belief  of  nurses  and  mothers  in  their 


188 


LETTERS  ON 


actual  transportation,  that  a  sensible  clergyman, men 
tioned  in  the  preface,  who  had  resolved  he  would 
watch  his  son  the  whole  night,  and  see  what  hag  or 
fiend  would  take  him  from  his  arms,  had  the  utmost 
difficulty,  notwithstanding,  in  convincing  his  mother 
that  the  child  had  not  been  transported  to  Blockula, 
during  the  very  night  he  held  him  in  his  embrace. 

The  learned  translator  candidly  allows,  “  out  of 
so  great  a  multitude  as  were  accused,  condemned, 
and  executed,  there  might  be  some  who  suffered  un¬ 
justly,  and  owed  their  death  more  to  the  malice  of 
their  enemies  than  to  their  skill  in  the  black  art,  I  will 
readily  admit.  Nor  will  I  deny,”  he  continues,  “but 
that  when  the  news  of  these  transactions  and  ac¬ 
counts,  how  the  children  bewitched  fell  into  fits  and 
strange  unusual  postures,  spread  abroad  in  the  king¬ 
dom,  some  fearful  and  credulous  people,  if  they  saw 
their  children  any  way  disordered,  might  think 
they  were  bewitched,  or  ready  to  be  carried  away 
by  imps.”*  The  learned  gentleman  here  stops  short 
in  a  train  of  reasoning,  which,  followed  out,  would 
have  deprived  the  world  of  the  benefit  of  his  trans¬ 
lation.  For,  if  it  was  possible  that  some  of  these 
unfortunate  persons  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  malice  of 
their  neighbours,  or  the  prejudices  of  witnesses,  as 
he  seems  ready  to  grant,  is  it  not  more  reasonable 
to  believe,  that  the  whole  of  the  accused  were  con¬ 
victed  on  similar  grounds,  than  to  allow,  as  truth,  the 
slightest  part  of  the  gross  and  vulgar  impossibilities 
upon  which  alone  their  execution  can  be  justified  ? 

The  Blockula,  which  was  the  object  of  their  jour¬ 
ney,  was  a  house  having  a  fine  gate  painted  with 
divers  colours,  with  a  paddock,  in  which  they  turned 
the  beasts  to  graze  which  had  brought  them  to  such 
scenes  of  revelry.  If  human  beings  had  been  em¬ 
ployed,  they  were  left  slumbering  against  the  wall 
of  the  house.  The  plan  of  the  Devil’s  palace  con- 

*  Translator’s  Preface  to  Horneck’s  “  Account  of  wlrat  happened  in 
(theKingdom  of  Sweden.”  See  Appendix  to  GJanviiie’s  work. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  189 

sisted  of  one  large  banqueting  apartment,  and  several 
with  drawing-rooms.  Their  food  was  homely 
enough,  being  broth  made  of  coleworts  and  bacon, 
with  bread  and  butter,  and  milk  and  cheese.  The 
same  acts  of  wickedness  and  profligacy  were  com¬ 
mitted  at  Blockula  which  are  usually  supposed  to 
take  place  upon  the  Devil’s  Sabbath  elsewhere ;  but 
there  was  this  particular,  that  the  witches  had  sons 
and  daughters  by  the  fiends,  who  were  married  to¬ 
gether,  and  produced  an  offspring  of  toads  and 
serpents. 

These  confessions  being  delivered  before  the  ac¬ 
cused  witches,  they  at  first  stoutly  denied  them ;  at 
last  some  of  them  burst  into  tears,  and  acquiesced  in 
the  horrors  imputed  to  them.  They  said,  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  carrying  off  children  had  been  enlarged  very 
lately  (which  shows  the  whole  rumours  to  have 
arisen  recently) ;  and  the  despairing  wretches  con¬ 
firmed  what  the  children  said,  with  many  other  ex¬ 
travagant  circumstances,  as  the  mode  of  elongating 
a  goat’s  back  by  means  of  a  spit,  on  which  we  care 
not  to  be  particular.  It  is  worth  mentioning,  that 
the  Devil,  desirous  of  enjoying  his  own  reputation 
among  his  subjects,  pretended  at  one  time  to  be 
dead,  and  was  much  lamented  at  Blockula — but  he 
soon  revived  again. 

Some  attempts  these  witches  had  made  to  harm 
individuals  on  middle  earth,  but  with  little  success. 
One  old  sorceress,  indeed,  attempted  to  strike  a  nail, 
given  her  by  the  Devil  for  that  purpose,  into  the  head 
of  the  minister  of  Elfland ;  but  as  the  scull  was  of 
unusual  solidity,  the  reverend  gentleman  only  felt  a 
headache  from  her  efforts.  They  could  not  be  per¬ 
suaded  to  exhibit  any  of  their  tricks  before  the  com¬ 
missioners,  excusing  themselves  by  alleging  that 
their  witchcraft  had  left  them,  and  that  the  Devil  had 
amused  them  with  the  vision  of  a  burning  pit,  having 
a  hand  thrust  out  of  it. 

The  total  number  who  lost  their  lives  on  this 


190 


LETTERS  ON 


singular  occasion,  was  fourscore  and  four  persons, 
including  fifteen  children;  and  at  this  expense  of 
blood  was  extinguished  a  flame  that  arose  as  sud¬ 
denly,  burned  as  fiercely,  and  decayed  as  rapidly,  as 
any  portent  of  the  kind  within  the  annals  of  super¬ 
stition.  The  commissioners  returned  to  court  with 
the  high  approbation  of  all  concerned — prayers  were 
ordered  through  the  churches  weekly,  that  Heaven 
would  be  pleased  to  restrain  the  powers  of  the  Devil, 
and  deliver  the  poor  creatures  who  hitherto  had 
groaned  under  it,  as  rvell  as  the  innocent  children, 
who  were  carried  off  by  hundreds  at  once. 

If  we  could  ever  learn  the  true  explanation  of  this 
story,  we  should  probably  find  that  the  cry  was  led 
by  some  clever  mischievous  boy,  who  wished  to 
apologize  to  his  parents  for  lying  an  hour  longer  in 
the  morning,  by  alleging  he  had  been  at  Blockula 
on  the  preceding  night ;  and  that  the  desire  to  be  as 
much  distinguished  as  their  comrade,  had  stimulated 
the  bolder  and  more  acute  of  his  companions  to  the 
like  falsehoods ;  while  those  of  weaker  minds  as¬ 
sented,  either  from  fear  of  punishment,  or  the  force 
of  dreaming  over  ^.t  night  the  horrors  which  were 
dinned  into  their  ears  all  day.  Those  who  were  in¬ 
genuous,  as  it  was  termed,  in  their  confessions,  re¬ 
ceived  praise  and  encouragement;  and  those  who 
denied,  or  were  silent,  and,  as  it  was  considered,  im¬ 
penitent,  were  sure  to  bear  the  harder  share  of  the 
punishment  which  was  addressed  to  all.  It  is  worth 
while  also  to  observe,  that  the  smarter  children  began 
1o  improve  their  evidence,  and  add  touches  to  the 
general  picture  of  Blockula.  “  Some  of  the  children 
talked  much  of  a  white  angel,  which  used  to  forbid 
them  what  the  Devil  bid  them  do,  and  told  them  that 
these  doings  should  not  last  long. — And,  they  added, 
this  better  being  would  place  himself  sometimes 
at  the  door  between  the  witches  and  the  children, 
and  when  they  came  to  Blockula  he  pulled  the 
children  back,  byt  the  witches  went  in.” 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  191 

This  additional  evidence  speaks  for  itself,  and 
shows  the  whole  tale  to  be  the  fiction  of  the  children’s 
imagination,  which  some  of  them  wished  to  im¬ 
prove  upon.  The  reader  may  consult,  “An  Ac¬ 
count  of  what  happened  in  the  Kingdom  of  Sweden 
in  the  years  1669  and  1670,  and  afterward  translated 
out  of  High  Dutch  into  English,  by  Dr.  Antony 
Horneck,”  attached  to  Glanville’s  “  Sadducismus 
Triumphatus.”  The  translator  refers  to  the  evi- 
dence  of  Baron  Sparr,  ambassador  from  the  court 
of  Sweden  to  the  court  of  England,  in  1672;  and 
that  of  Baron  Lyonberg,  envoy  extraordinary  of  the 
same  power,  both  of  whom  attest  the  confession  and 
execution  of  the  witches.  The  King  of  Sweden 
himself  answered  the  express  inquiries  of  the  Duke 
of  Holstein  with  marked  reserve.  “  His  judges  and 
commissioners,”  he  said,  “  had  caused  divers  men, 
women,  and  children  to  be  burned  and  executed,  on 
such  pregnant  evidence  as  was  brought  before  them. 
But  whether  the  actions  confessed,  and  proved 
against  them,  were  real,  or  only  the  effects  of  strong 
imagination,  he  was  not  as  yet  able  to  determine 
— a  sufficient  reason,  perhaps,  why  punishment 
should  have  been  at  least  deferred  by  the  interposi¬ 
tion  of  the  royal  authority. 

We  must  now  turn  our  eyes  to  Britain,  in  which 
our  knowledge  as  to  such  events  is  necessarily  more 
extensive,  and  where  it  is  in  a  high  degree  more 
interesting  to  our  present  purpose. 


192 


LETTERS  ON 


LETTER  VIII. 

The  Effects  of  the  Witch  Superstition  are  to  be  traced  in  the  Laws  of  a 
Kingdom — Usually  punished  in  England  as  aCrime  connected  with  Po¬ 
litics — Attempt  at  Murder  for  Witchcraft  not  in  itself  capital — Trials 
of  Persons  of  Rank  for  Witchcraft,  connected  with  State  Crimes — 
Statutes  of  Henry  VIII. — How  Witchcraft  was  regarded  by  the  three 
leading  Sects  of  Religion  in  the  Sixteenth  Century;  first,  by  the 
Catholics;  second,  by  the  Calvinists ;  third,  by  the  Church  of  England 
and  Lutherans — Impostures  unwarily  countenanced  by  individual 
Catholic  Priests,  and  also  by  some  Puritanic  Clergymen — Statute  of 
1562,  and  some  Cases  upon  it — Case  of  Dugdale — Case  of  the  Witches 
of  Warbois,  and  Execution  of  the  Family  of  Samuel — That  of  Jane 
Wenham,  in  which  some  ChurchofEngland  Clergymen  insisted  on  the 
Prosecution — Hutchison’s  Rebuke  to  them — James  the  First’s  Opinion 
of  Witchcraft — His  celebrated  Statute,  1  Jac.  I. — Canon  passed  by  the 
Convocation  against  Possession — Case  of  Mr.  Fairfax’s  Children — Lan¬ 
cashire  Witches  in  1613 — Another  Discovery  in  1634 — Webster’s 
Account  of  the  Manner  in  which  the  Imposture  was  managed — Supe¬ 
riority  of  the  Calvinists  is  followed  by  a  severe  Prosecution  of 
Witches — Executions  in  Suffolk,  &e.  to  a  dreadful  Extent — Hopkins, 
the  pretended  Witchfinder,  the  Cause  of  these  Oruelties — His  brutal 
Practices — HisLetter — Execution  of  Mr.  Lowis — Hopkins  punished — 
Restoration  of  Charles — Trial  of  Coxe — of  Dunny  and  Callender  be¬ 
fore  Lord  Hales — Royal  Society  and  Progress  of  Knowledge — Somer¬ 
setshire  Witches — Opinions  of  the  Populace — A  Woman  swum  for 
Witchcraft  at  Oakly — Murder  at  Tring — Act  against  Witchcraft 
abolished,  and  the  Belief  in  the  Crime  becomes  forgotten — Witch 
Trials  in  New-England — Dame  Glover’s  Trial — Affliction  of  the 
Parvises,  and  frightful  Increase  of  the  Prosecutions — Suddenly  put  a 
stop  to — The  Penitence  of  those  concerned  in  them. 

Our  account  of  Demonology  in  England  must 
naturally,  as  in  every  other  country,  depend  chiefly 
on  the  instances  which  history  contains  of  the  laws 
and  prosecutions  against  witchcraft.  Other  super¬ 
stitions  arose  and  decayed,  were  dreaded  or  despised, 
without  greater  embarrassment,  in  the  provinces  in 
which  they  have  a  temporary  currency,  than  that 
cowards  and  children  go  out  more  seldom  at  night, 
while  the  reports  of  ghosts  and  fairies  are  peculiarly 
current.  But  when  the  alarm  of  witchcraft  arises, 
Superstition  dips  her  hand  in  the  blood  of  the  persons 
accused,  and  records  in  the  annals  of  jurisprudence 


DEMOKOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  193 

their  trials,  and  the  causes  alleged  in  vindication 
of  their  execution.  Respecting  other  fantastic  alle¬ 
gations,  the  proof  is  necessarily  transient  and  doubt¬ 
ful,  depending  upon  the  inaccurate  testimony  of  vague 
report  and  of  doting  tradition.  But  in  cases  of  witch¬ 
craft,  we  have  before  us  the  recorded’  evidence  upon 
which  judge  and  jury  acted,  and  can  form  an  opinion 
with  some  degree  of  certainty  of  the  grounds,  real  or 
fanciful,  on  which  they  acquitted  or  condemned.  It 
is,  therefore,  in  tracing  this  part  of  Demonology, 
with  its  accompanying  circumstances,  that  we  have 
tire  best  chance  of  obtaining  an  accurate  view  of  our 
subject. 

The  existence  of  witchcraft  was,  no  doubt,  received 
and  credited  in  England,  as  in  the  countries  on  the 
Continent,  and  originally  punished  accordingly.  But 
after  the  fourteenth  century,  the  practices  which  fell 
under  such  a  description  were  thought  unworthy  of 
any  peculiar  animadversion,  unless  they  were  con¬ 
nected  with  something  which  would  have  been  of 
itself  a  capital  crime,  by  whatever  means  it  had  been 
either  essayed  or  accomplished.  Thus,  the  supposed 
paction  between  a  witch  and  the  demon  was  perhaps 
deemed  in  itself  to  have  terrors  enough  to  prevent  its 
becoming  an  ordinary  crime,  and  was  not,  therefore, 
visited  with  any  statutory  penalty.  But  to  attempt 
or  execute  bodily  harm  to  others,  through  means  of 
evil  spirits,  or,  in  a  word,  by  the  black  art,  was  action¬ 
able  at  common  law,  as  much  as  if  the  party  accused 
had  done  the  same  harm  with  an  arrow  or  pistol- 
shot.  The  destruction  or  abstraction  of  goods  by  the 
like  instruments,  supposing  the  charge  proved,  would, 
in  like  manner,  be  punishable.  A  fortiori ,  the  con¬ 
sulting  soothsayers,  familiar  spirits,  or  the  like,  and 
the  obtaining  and  circulating  pretended  prophecies, 
to  the  unsettlement  of  the  state,  and  the  endangering 
of  the  king’s  title,  is  yet  a  higher  degree  of  guilt. 
And  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  inquiry  into  the 
date  of  the  king’s  life  bears  a  close  affinity  with  the 

R 


194 


LETTERS  ON 


desiring  or  compassing  the  death  of  the  sovereign, 
which  is  the  essence  of  high-treason.  Upon  such 
charges,  repeated  trials  took  place  in  the  courts  of 
the  English,  and  condemnations  were  pronounced1, 
with  sufficient  justice,  no  doubt,  where  the  connexion 
between  the  resort  to  sorcerers,  and  the  design  to  per¬ 
petrate  a  felony,  could  be  clearly  proved.  We  would 
not,  indeed,  be  disposed  to  go  the  length  of  so  high 
an  authority  as  Selden,  who  pronounces  (in  his 
Table-talk),  that  if  a  man  heartily  believed  that  he 
could  take  the  life  of  another  by  waving  his  hat 
three  times,  and  crying  Buzz !  and  should,  under  this 
fixed  opinion,  wave  his  hat  and  cry,  Buzz !  accord¬ 
ingly,  he  ought  to  be  executed  as  a  murderer.  But  a 
false  prophecy  of  the  king’s  death  is  not  to  be  dealt 
with  exactly  on  the  usual  principle  ;  because,  how¬ 
ever  idle  in  itself,  the  promulgation  of  such  a  predic¬ 
tion  has,  in  times  such  as  we  are  speaking  of,  a 
strong  tendency  to  work  its  completion. 

Many  persons,  and  some  of  great  celebrity,  suf¬ 
fered  for  the  charge  of  trafficking  with  witches,  to 
the  prejudice  of  those  in  authority.  We  have  already 
mentioned  the  instance  of  the  Dutchess  of  Glou¬ 
cester,  in  Henry  the  Sixth’s  reign,  and  that  of  the 
Queen  Dowager’s  kinsmen,  in  the  Protectorate  of 
Richard,  afterward  the  Third.  In  1521,  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham  was  beheaded,  owing  much  to  his 
having  listened  to  the  predictions  of  one  Friar  Hop¬ 
kins.  In  the  same  reign,  the  Maid  of  Kent,  who 
had  been  esteemed  a  prophetess,  was  put  to  death  as 
a  cheat.  She  suffered  with  seven  persons  who  had 
managed  her  fits  for  the  support  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  confessed  her  fraud  upon  the  scaffold. 
About  seven  years  after  this,  Lord  Hungerford  was 
beheaded  for  consulting  certain  soothsayers  concern¬ 
ing  the  length  of  Henry  the  Eighth’s  life.  But  these 
cases  rather  relate  to  the  purpose  for  which  the 
sorcery  was  employed,  than  to  the  fact  of  using  it. 

Two  remarkable  statutes  were  passed  in  the  year 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  195 

1541 ;  one  against  false  prophecies,  the  other  against 
the  act  of  conjuration,  witchcraft,  and  sorcery,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  against  breaking  and  destroying 
crosses.  The  former  enactment  was  certainly  made 
to  ease  the  suspicious  and  wayward  fears  of  the 
tetchy  King  Henry.  The  prohibition  against  witch¬ 
craft  might  be  also  dictated  by  the  king’s  jealous 
doubts  of  hazard  to  the  succession.  The  enactment 
against  breaking  crosses  was  obviously  designed  to 
check  the  ravages  of  the  reformers,  who,  in  England 
as  well  as  elsewhere,  desired  to  sweep  away  Popery 
with  the  besom  of  destruction.  This  latter  statute 
was  abrogated  in  the  first  year  of  Edward  VI.,  per¬ 
haps  as  placing  an  undue  restraint  on  the  zeal  of 
good  Protestants  against  idolatry. 

At  length,  in  1562,  a  formal  statute  against  sorcery, 
as  penal  in  itself,  was  actually  passed ;  but  as  the 
penalty  was  limited  to  the  pillory  for  the  first  trans¬ 
gression,  the  legislature  probably  regarded  those  who 
might  be  brought  to  trial  as  impostors  rather  than 
wizards.  There  are  instances  of  individuals  tried 
and  convicted  as  impostors  and  cheats,  and  who  ac¬ 
knowledged  themselves  such  before  the  court  and 
people :  but  in  their  articles  of  visitation,  the  prelates 
directed  inquiry  to  be  made  after  those  who  should 
use  enchantments,  witchcraft,  sorcery,  or  any  like 
craft,  invented  by  the  Devil. 

But  it  is  here  proper  to  make  a  pause,  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  inquiring  in  what  manner  the  religious  dis¬ 
putes  which  occupied  all  Europe  about  this  time .  in¬ 
fluenced  the  proceedings  of  the  rival  sects  in  relation 
to  Demonology. 

The  Papal  church  had  long  reigned  by  the  proud 
and  absolute  humour  which  she  had  assumed,  of 
maintaining  every  doctrine  which  her  rulers  had 
adopted  in  dark  ages ;  but  this  pertinacity  at  length 
made  her  citadel  too  large  to  be  defended  at  every 
point,  by  a  garrison  whom  prudence  would  have  re¬ 
quired  to  abandon  positions  which  had  been  taken 


196 


LETTERS  ON 


in  times  of  darkness,  and  were  unsuited  to  the  war¬ 
fare  of  a  more  enlightened  age.  The  sacred  motto 
of  the  Vatican  was,  “  Vestigia  nulla  retr  or  sum and 
this  rendered  it  impossible  to  comply  with  the  more 
wise  and  moderate  of  her  own  party,  who  would 
otherwise  have  desired  to  make  liberal  concessions 
to  the  Protestants,  and  thus  prevent,  in  its  commence¬ 
ment,  a  formidable  schism  in  the  Christian  world. 

To  the  system  of  Rome  the  Calvinists  offered 
the  most  determined  opposition,  affecting,  upon  every 
occasion,  and  on  all  points,  to  observe  an  order  of 
church-government,  as  well  as  of  worship,  expressly 
in  the  teeth  of  its  enactments ; — in  a  word,  to  be  a 
good  Protestant,  they  held  it  almost  essential  to  be, 
in  all  things,  diametrically  opposite  to  the  Catholic 
form  and  faith.  As  the  foundation  of  this  sect  was 
laid  in  republican  states ;  as  its  clerical  discipline  was 
settled  on  a  democratic  basis ;  and  as  the  countries 
which  adopted  that  form  of  government  were  chiefly 
poor,  tire  preachers,  having  lost  the  rank  and  opulence 
enjoyed  by  the  Roman  Church,  were  gradually  thrown 
on  the  support  of  the  people.  Insensibly  they  be¬ 
came  occupied  with  the  ideas  and  tenets  natural  to 
the  common  people,  which,  if  they  have  usually  the 
merit  of  being  honestly  conceived  and  boldly  ex¬ 
pressed,  are  not  the  less  often  adopted  with  credulity 
and  precipitation,  and  carried  into  effect  with  unhesi¬ 
tating  harshness  and  severity. 

Between  these  extremes  the  Churchmen  of  England 
endeavoured  to  steer  a  middle  course,  retaining  a  por¬ 
tion  of  the  ritual  and  forms  of  Rome,  as  in  them¬ 
selves  admirable,  and  at  any  rate  too  greatly  venerated 
by  the  people,  to  be  changed  merely  for  opposition’s 
sake.  Their  comparatively  undilapidated  revenue, 
the  connexion  of  their  system  with  the  state,  with 
views  of  ambition  as  ample  as  the  station  of  a 
churchman  ought  to  command,  rendered  them  inde¬ 
pendent  of  the  necessity  of  courting  their  flocks  by 
any  means  save  regular  discharge  of  their  duty ;  and 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


197 


the  excellent  provisions  made  for  their  education 
afforded  them  learning  to  confute  ignorance,  and  en¬ 
lighten  prejudice. 

Such  being  the  general  character  of  the  three 
Churches,  their  belief  in,  and  persecution  of,  such 
crimes  as  witchcraft  and  sorcery,  were  necessarily 
modelled  upon  the  peculiar  tenets  which  each  system 
professed,  and  gave  rise  to  various  results  in  the 
countries  where  they  were  severally  received. 

The  Church  of  Rome,  as  we  have  seen,  was  un¬ 
willing,  in  her  period  of  undisputed  power,  to  call  in 
the  secular  arm  to  pmiish  men  for  witchcraft,  a  crime 
which  fell  especially  under  ecclesiastical  cognizance, 
and  could,  according  to  her  belief,  be  subdued  by  the 
spiritual  arm  alone.  The  learned  men  at  the  head 
of  the  establishment  might  safely  despise  the  attempt 
at  those  hidden  arts  as  impossible ;  or,  even  if  they 
were  of  a  more  credulous  disposition,  they  might  be 
unwilling  to  make  laws  by  which  their  own  inquiries 
in  the  mathematics,  algebra,  chymistry,  and  other 
pursuits  vulgarly  supposed  to  approach  the  confines 
of  magic  art,  might  be  inconveniently  restricted. 
The  more  selfish  part  of  the  priesthood  might  think 
that  a  general  belief  in  the  existence  of  witches 
should  be  permitted  to  remain,  as  a  source  both  of 
power  and  of  revenue — that  if  there  were  no  pos¬ 
sessions,  there  could  be  no  exorcism-fees — and,  in 
short,  that  a  wholesome  faith  in  all  the  absurdities 
of  the  vulgar  creed,  as  to  supernatural  influences,  was 
necessary  to  maintain  the  influence  of  Diana  of 
Ephesus.  They  suffered  spells  to  be  manufactured, 
since  every  friar  had  the  power  of  reversing  them— 
they  permitted  poison  to  be  distilled,  because  every 
convent  had  the  antidote,  which  was  disposed  of  to 
all  who  chose  to  demand  it.  It  was  not  till  the  uni¬ 
versal  progress  of  heresy,  in  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  that  the  bull  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII.,  already 
quoted,  called  to  convict,  imprison,  and  condemn  the 
sorcerers,  chiefly  because  it  was  the  object  to  transfer 

R  2 


198 


1ETTERS  ON 


the  odium  of  these  crimes  to  the  Waldenses,  and 
excite  and  direct  the  public  hatred  against  the  new 
sect,  by  confounding  their  doctrines  with  the  influ¬ 
ences  of  the  Devil  and  his  Fiends.  The  bull  of  Pope 
Innocent  was  afterward,  in  the  year  1523,  enforced 
by  Adrian  VI.,  with  a  new  one,  in  which  excommu¬ 
nication  was  directed  against  sorcerers  and  heretics. 

While  Rome  thus  positively  declared  herself 
against  witches  and  sorcerers,  the  Calvinists,  in  whose 
numbers  must  be  included  the  greater  part  of  the 
English  Puritans,  who,  though  they  had  not  finally 
severed  from  the  communion  of  the  Anglican  Church, 
yet  disapproved  of  her  ritual  and  ceremonies,  as  re¬ 
taining  too  much  of  the  Papal  stamp,  ranked  them¬ 
selves,  in  accordance  with  their  usual  policy,  in 
diametrical  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Mother 
Church.  They  assumed  in  the  opposite  sense  what¬ 
ever  Rome  pretended  to  as  a  proof  of  her  omnipotent 
authority.  The  exorcisms,  forms,  and  rites  by  which 
good  Catholics  believed  that  incarnate  fiends  could 
be  expelled,  and  evil  spirits  of  every  kind  rebuked — 
these,  like  the  holy  water,  the  robes  of  the  priest, 
and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  the  Calvinists  considered 
either  with  scorn  and  contempt,  as  the  tools  of  de¬ 
liberate  quackery  and  imposture,  or  with  horror  and 
loathing,  as  the  fit  emblems  and  instruments  of  an 
idolatrous  system. 

Such  of  them  as  did  not  absolutely  deny  the  super¬ 
natural  powers  of  which  the  Romanists  made  boast, 
regarded  the  success  of  the  exorcising  priest,  to 
whatever  extent  they  admitted  it,  as  at  best  a  cast¬ 
ing  out  of  devils  by  the  power  of  Beelzebub,  the 
King  of  the  Devils.  They  saw  also,  and  resented 
bitterly,  the  attempt  to  confound  any  dissent  from 
the  doctrines  of  Rome  with  the  proneness  to  an  en¬ 
couragement  of  rites  of  sorcery.  On  the  whole,  the 
Calvinists,  generally  speaking,  were,  of  all  the  con¬ 
tending  sects,  the  most  ■  suspicious  of  sorcery,  the 
most  undoubting  believers  in  its  existence,  and  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  199 

most  eager  to  follow  it  up  with  what  they  conceived 
to  be  the  due  punishment  of  the  most  fearful  of 
crimes. 

The  leading  divines  of  the  Church  of  England 
were,  without  doubt,  fundamentally  as  much  op¬ 
posed  to  the  doctrines  of  Rome,  as  those  who  alto¬ 
gether  disclaimed  opinions  and  ceremonies,  merely 
because  she  had  entertained  them.  But  their  posi¬ 
tion  in  society  tended  strongly  to  keep  them  from 
adopting,  on  such  subjects  as  we  are  now  discussing, 
either  the  eager  credulity  of  the  vulgar  mind,  or  the 
fanatic  ferocity  of  their  Calvinistic  rivals.  We  have 
no  purpose  to  discuss  the  matter  in  detail — enough 
has  probably  been  said  to  show  generally  why  the 
Romanist  should  have  cried  out  a  miracle,  respect¬ 
ing  an  incident  which  the  Anglican  would  have  con¬ 
temptuously  termed  an  imposture ;  while  the  Cal¬ 
vinist,  inspired  with  a  darker  zeal,  and,  above  all, 
with  the  unceasing  desire  of  open  controversy  with 
the  Catholics,  would  have  styled  the  same  event  an 
operation  of  the  Devil. 

It  followed,  that  while  the  divines  of  the  Church 
of  England  possessed  the  upper  hand  in  the  king¬ 
dom,  witchcraft,  though  trials  and  even  condemna¬ 
tions  for  that  offence  occasionally  occurred,  did  not 
create  that  epidemic  terror  which  the  very  suspicion 
of  the  offence  carried  with  it  elsewhere ;  so  that 
Reginald  Scot  and  others  alleged,  it  was  the  vain 
pretences  and  empty  forms  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
by  the  faith  reposed  in  them,  which  had  led  to  the 
belief  of  witchcraft  or  sorcery  in  general.  Nor  did 
prosecutions  on  account  of  such  charges  frequently 
involve  a  capital  punishment,  while  learned  judges 
were  jealous  of  the  imperfection  of  the  evidence  to 
support  the  charge,  and  entertained  a  strong  and 
growing  suspicion  that  legitimate  grounds  for  such 
trials  seldom  actually  existed.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  usually  happened  that  wherever  the  Calvinist  in¬ 
terest  became  predominant  in  Britain,  a  general  per- 


200 


LETTERS  ON 


secution  of  sorcerers  and  witches  seemed  to  take 
■place  of  consequence.  Fearing  and  hating  sorcery 
more  than  other  Protestants,  connecting  its  cere¬ 
monies  and  usages  with  those  of  the  detested  Catho¬ 
lic  Church,  the  Calvinists  were  more  eager  than 
other  sects  in  searching  after  the  traces  of  this 
crime,  and,  of  course,  unusually  successful,  as  they 
might  suppose,  in  making  discoveries  of  guilt,  and 
pursuing  it  to  the  expiation  of  the  fagot.  In  a  word, 
a  principle  already  referred  to  by  Dr.  Francis  Hut¬ 
chison,  will  be  found  to  rule  the  tide  and  the  reflux 
of  such  cases  in  the  different  churches.  The  num¬ 
bers  of  witches,  and  their  supposed  dealings  with 
Satan,  will  increase  or  decrease  according  as  such 
doings  are  accounted  probable  or  impossible.  Under 
the  former  supposition,  charges  and  convictions  will 
be  found  augmented  in  a  terrific  degree.  When  the 
accusations  are  disbelieved,  and  dismissed  as  not 
worthy  of  attention,  the  crime  becomes  unfrequent, 
ceases  to  occupy  the  public  mind,  and  affords  little 
trouble  to  the  judges. 

The  passing  of  Elizabeth’s  statute  against  witch¬ 
craft  in  1562  does  not  seem  to  have  been  intended 
to  increase  the  number  of  trials,  or  cases  of  convic¬ 
tion  at  least ;  and  the  fact  is,  it  did  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other.  Two  children  were  tried  in  1574  for 
counterfeiting  possession,  and  stood  in  the  pillory 
for  impostors.  Mildred  Norrington,  called  the  Maid 
of  Westwell,  furnished  another  instance  of  posses¬ 
sion  ;  but  she  also  confessed  her  imposture,  and 
publicly  showed  her  fits  and  tricks  of  mimicry.  The 
strong  influence  already  possessed  by  the  Puritans 
may  probably  be  sufficient  to  account  for  the  darker 
issue  of  certain  cases,  in  which  both  juries  and 
judges,  in  Elizabeth’s  time,  must  be  admitted  to 
have  shown  fearful  severity. 

These  cases  of  possession  were  in  some  respects 
sore  snares  to  the  priests  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
who,  while  they  were  too  sagacious  not  to  be  aware 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  201 

that  the  pretended  fits,  contortions,  strange  sounds, 
and  other  extravagances,  produced  as  evidence  of 
the  demon’s  influence  on  the  possessed  person,  were 
nothing  else  than  marks  of  imposture  by  some  idle 
vagabond,  were  nevertheless  often  tempted  to  admit 
them  as  real,  and  take  the  credit  of  curing  them. 
The  period  was  one  when  the  Catholic  Church  had 
much  occasion  to  rally  around  her  all  the  respect 
that  remained  to  her  in  a  schismatic  and  heretical 
kingdom;  and  when  her  fathers  and  doctors  an¬ 
nounced  the  existence  of  such  a  dreadful  disease, 
and  of  the  power  of  the  church’s  prayers,  relics,  and 
ceremonies,  to  cure  it,  it  was  difficult  for  a  priest, 
supposing  him  more  tender  of  the  interest  of  his 
order  than  that  of  truth,  to  avoid  such  a  tempting 
opportunity  as  a  supposed  case  of  possession  offered, 
for  displaying  the  high  privilege  in  which  his  pro¬ 
fession  made  him  a  partaker,  or  to  abstain  from  con¬ 
niving  at  the  imposture,  in  order  to  obtain  for  his 
church  the  credit  of  expelling  the  demon.  It  was 
hardly  to  be  wondered  at,  if  the  ecclesiastic  was 
sometimes  induced  to  aid  the  fraud  of  which  such 
motives  forbade  him  to  be  the  detecter.  At  this  he 
might  hesitate  the  less,  as  he  was  not  obliged  to 
adopt  the  suspected  and  degrading  course  of  holding 
an  immediate  communication  in  limine  with  the  im¬ 
postor,  since  a  hint  or  two,  dropped  in  the  supposed 
sufferer’s  presence,  might  give  him  the  necessary 
information  what  was  the  most  exact  mode  of  per¬ 
forming  his  part,  and  if  the  patient  was  possessed 
by  a  devil  of  any  acuteness  or  dexterity,  he  wanted 
no  farther  instruction  how  to  play  it.  Such  combi¬ 
nations  were  sometimes  detected,  and  brought  more 
discredit  on  the  Church  of  Rome  than  was  counter¬ 
balanced  by  any  which  might  be  more  cunningly 
managed.  On  this  subject,  the  reader  may  turn  to 
Dr.  Harsnett’s  celebrated  book  on  Popish  Impos¬ 
tures,  wherein  he  gives  the  history  of  several  noto¬ 
rious  cases  of  detected  fraud,  in  which  Roman  eccle- 


202 


LETTERS  ON 


siastics  had  not  hesitated  to  mingle  themselves 
That  of  Grace  Sowerbutts,  instructed  by  a  Catholic 
priest  to  impeach  her  grandmother  of  witchcraft, 
was  a  very  gross  fraud. 

Such  cases  were  not,  however,  limited  to  the  eccle¬ 
siastics  of  Rome.  We  have  already  stated,  that,  as 
extremes  usually  approach  each  other,  the  Dis¬ 
senters,  in  their  violent  opposition  to  the  Papists, 
adopted  some  of  their  ideas  respecting  demoniacs ; 
and,  we  have  now  to  add,  that  they  also  claimed, 
by  the  vehemence  of  prayer,  and  the  authority  of 
their  own  sacred  commission,  that  power  of  expel¬ 
ling  devils,  which  the  Church  of  Rome  pretended 
to  exercise  by  rites,  ceremonies,  and  relics.  The 
memorable  case  of  Richard  Dugdale,  called  the  Sur¬ 
rey  Impostor,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
which  the  Dissenters  brought  forward.  This  youth 
was  supposed  to  have  sold  his  soul  to  the  Devil  on 
condition  of  being  made  the  best  dancer  in  Lanca¬ 
shire,  and  during  his  possession  played  a  number  of 
fantastic  tricks,  not  much  different  from  those  ex¬ 
hibited  by  expert  posture-masters  of  the  present 
day.  This  person  threw  himself  into  the  hands  of 
the  Dissenters,  who,  in  their  eagerness,  caught  at  an 
opportunity  to  relieve  an  afflicted  person,  whose  case 
the  regular  clergy  appeared  to  have  neglected. 
They  fixed  a  committee  of  their  number,  who 
weekly  attended  the  supposed  sufferer,  and  exercised 
themselves  in  appointed  days  of  humiliation  and 
fasting,  during  the  course  of  a  whole  year.  All  re¬ 
spect  for  the  demon  seems  to  have  abandoned  the 
reverend  gentlemen,  after  they  had  relieved  guard 
in  this  manner  for  some  little  time,  and  they  got  so 
regardless  of  Satan  as  to  taunt  him  with  the  mode  in 
which  he  executed  his  promise  to  teach  his  vassal 
dancing.  The  following  specimen  of  raillery  is 
worth  commemoration “  What,  Satan !  is  this  the 
dancing  that  Richard  gave  himself  to  thee  for  1  &c. 
Canst  thou  dance  no  better  1  &c.  Ransack  the  old 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  203 

records  of  all  past  times  and  places  in  thy  memory : 
canst  thou  not  there  find  out  some  better  way  of 
trampling  1  Pump  thine  invention  dry :  cannot  the 
universal  seed-plot  of  subtle  wiles  and  stratagems 
spring  up  one  new  method  of  cutting  capers  1  Is 
this  the  top  of  skill  and  pride,  to  shuffle  feet  and 
brandish  knees  thus,  and  to  trip  like  a  doe,  and  skip 
like  a  squirrel  1  And  wherein  differ  thy  leapings  from 
the  hoppings  of  a  frog,  or  the  bouncings  of  a  goat, 
or  friskings  of  a  dog,  or  gesticulations  of  a  monkey  ? 
And  cannot  a  palsy  shake  such  a  loose  leg  as  that  1 
Dost  thou  not  twirl  like  a  calf  that  hath  the  turn, 
and  twitch  up  thy  houghs  just  like  a  springhault 
tit  V*  One  might  almost  conceive  the  demon  re¬ 
plying  to  this  raillery  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Johnson, 
“  This  merriment  of  parsons  is  extremely  offen¬ 
sive.” 

The  Dissenters  were  probably  too  honest,  however 
simple,  to  achieve  a  complete  cure  on  Dugdale  by 
an  amicable  understanding;  so,  after  their  year  of 
vigil,  they  relinquished  their  task  by  degrees.  Dug¬ 
dale,  weary  of  his  illness,  which  now  attracted  little 
notice,  attended  a  regular  physician,  and  was  cured 
of  that  part  of  his  disease  which  was  not  affected, 
in  a  regular  way,  par  ordonnance  du  mddecin.  But 
the  reverend  gentlemen  who  had  taken  his  case  in 
hand  still  assumed  the  credit  of  curing  him,  and  if 
any  thing  could  have  induced  them  to  sing  Te  Deum, 
it  would  have  been  this  occasion.  They  said  that 
ihe  effect  of  their  public  prayers  had  been  for  a  time 
suspended,  until  seconded  by  the  continued  earnest¬ 
ness  of  their  private  devotions  ! ! 

The  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England,  though, 
from  education,  intercourse  with  the  world,  and 
Other  advantages,  they  were  less  prone  to  prejudice 
firm  those  of  other  sects,  are  yet  far  from  being 
en  'rely  free  of  the  charge  of  encouraging  in 


*  Hutchison  on  Witchcraft,  p.  162. 


204 


LETTERS  ON 


particular  instances  the  witch  superstition.  Even 
while  Dr.  Hutchison  pleads  that  the  Church  of 
England  has  the  least  to  answer  for  in  that  matter, 
he  is  under  the  necessity  of  acknowledging,  that 
some  regular  country  clergymen  so  far  shared  the 
rooted  prejudices  of  congregations,  and  of  the  go¬ 
vernment  which  established  laws  against  it,  as  to  be 
active  in  the  persecution  of  the  suspected,  and  even 
in  countenancing  the  superstitious  signs  by  which 
in  that  period  the  vulgar  thought  it  possible  to  ascer¬ 
tain  the  existence  of  the  afflictions  by  witchcraft, 
and  obtain  the  knowledge  of  the  perpetrator.  A  sin¬ 
gular  case  is  mentioned  of  three  women,  called  the 
Witches  of  Warbois.  Indeed,  their  story  is  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  solemn  enough  record ;  for  Sir  Samuel  Crom¬ 
well,  having  received  the  sum  of  forty  pounds  as 
lord  of  the  manor,  out  of  the  estate  of  the  poor  per 
sons  who  suffered,  turned  it  into  a  rent  charge  ol 
forty  shillings  yearly,  for  the  endowment  of  an  an¬ 
nual  lecture  on  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  to  be 
preached  by  a  doctor  or  bachelor  of  divinity  of 
Queen’s  College,  Cambridge.  The  accused,  one 
Samuel  and  his  wife,  were  old,  and  very  poor  per¬ 
sons,,  and  their  daughter  a  young  woman.  The 
daughter  of  a  Mr.  Throgmorton,  seeing  the  poor  old 
woman  in  a  black  knitted  cap,  at  a  time  when  she 
was  not  very  well,  took  a  whim  that  she  had  be¬ 
witched  her,  and  was  ever  after  exclaiming  against 
her.  The  other  children  of  this  fanciful  family 
caught  up  the  same  cry,  and  the  eldest  of  them  at 
last  got  up  a  vastly  pretty  drama,  in  which  she  her¬ 
self  furnished  all  the  scenes,  and  played  all  the 
parts. 

Such  imaginary  scenes,  or  make-believe  stories,  are 
the  common  amusement  of  lively  children;  and 
most  readers  may  remember  having  had  some  Utopia 
of  their  own.  But  the  nursery  drama  of  Miss 
Throgmorton  had  a  horrible  conclusion.  This  young 
lady  and  her  sisters  were  supposed  to  be  haunted  by 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  205 

nine  spirits,  despatched  by  the  wicked  Mother  Samuel 
for  that  purpose.  The  sapient  parents  heard  one 
part  of  the  dialogue,  when  the  children  in  their  fits 
returned  answers,  as  was  supposed,  to  the  spirits 
who  afflicted  them ;  and  when  the  patients  from  time 
to  time  recovered,  they  furnished  the  counterpart 
by  telling  what  the  spirits  had  said  to  them.  The 
names  of  the  spirits  were  Pluck,  Hardname,  Catch, 
Blue,  ard  three  Smacks,  who  were  cousins.  Mrs. 
Joan  Throgmorton,  the  eldest  (who,  like  other 
young  women  of  her  age,  about  fifteen,  had  some 
disease  on  her  nerves,  and  whose  fancy  ran  appa¬ 
rently  on  love  and  gallantry),  supposed  that  one  of 
the  Smacks  was  her  lover,  did  battle  for  her  with  the 
less  friendly  spirits,  and  promised  to  protect  her 
against  Mother  Samuel  herself;  and  the  following 
curious  extract  will  show  on  what  a  footing  of  fa¬ 
miliarity  the  damsel  stood  with  her  spiritual  gallant ; 
“  ‘  From  whence  come  you,  Mr.  Smack  V  says  the 
afflicted  young  lady  ;  4  and  what  news  do  you  bring  1 
Smack,  nothing  abashed,  informed  her  he  came  from 
fighting  with  Pluck :  the  weapons,  great  cowl-staves, 
— the  scene,  a  ruinous  bakehouse  in  Dame  Samuel’s 
yard.  *  And  who  got  the  mastery,  I  prayiyou  V  said 
the  damsel.  Smack  answered,  he  had  broken  Pluck’s 
head.  ‘  I  would,’  said  the  damsel,  ‘  he  had  broken 
your  neck  also.’ — 4  Is  that  the  thanks  I  am  to  have 
for  my  labour  V  said  the  disappointed  Smack.  4  Look 
you  for  thanks  at  my  handl’  said  the  distressed 
maiden.  4 1  would  you  were  all  hanged  up  against 
each  other,  with  your  dame  for  company,  for  you 
are  all  naught.’  ”  On  this  repulse,  exit  Smack,  and 
enter  Pluck,  Blue,  and  Catch,  the  first  with  his  head 
broken,  the  other  limping,  and  the  third  with  his  arm 
in  a  sling,  all  trophies  of  Smack’s  victory.  They 
disappeared,  after  having  threatened  vengeance  upon 
the  conquering  Smack.  However,  he  soon  after¬ 
ward  appeared  with  his  laurels.  He  told  her  of  his 
various  conflicts.  44  4  1  wonder,’  said  Mrs.  Joan,  or 

S 


206 


LETTERS  ON 


Jane,  ‘  that  you  are  able  to  beat  them ;  you  are  little, 
and  they  very  big.’ — ‘  He  cared  not  for  that,’  he  re¬ 
plied  ;  ‘  he  would  beat  the  best  two  of  them,  and  his 
cousins  Smacks  would  beat  the  other  two.’  ”  This 
most  pitiful  mirth,  for  such  it  certainly  is,  was  mixed 
wbth  tragedy  enough.  Miss  Throgmorton  and  her 
sisters  railed  against  Dame  Samuel ;  and  when  Mr, 
Throgmorton  brought  her  to  his  house  by  force,  the 
little  fiends  longed  to  draw  blood  of  her,  scratch  her, 
and  torture  her,  as  the  witch-creed  of  that  period  re¬ 
commended;  yet  the  poor  woman  incurred  deeper 
suspicion  when  she  expressed  a  wish  to  leave  a  house 
where  she  was  so  coarsely  treated,  and  lay  under 
such  odious  suspicions. 

It  was  in  vain  that  this  unhappy  creature  endea¬ 
voured  to  avert  their  resentment,  by  submitting  to  all 
the  ill  usage  they  chose  to  put  upon  her;  in  vain 
that  she  underwent,  unresistingly,  the  worst  usage 
at  the  hand  of  Lady  Cromwell,  her  landlady,  who, 
abusing  her  with  the  worst  epithets,  tore  her  cap  from 
her  head,  clipped  out  some  of  her  hair,  and  gave  it  to 
Mrs.  Throgmorton,  to  bum  it  for  a  counter-charm. 
Nay,  Mother  Samuel’s  complaisance  in  the  latter 
case  only  led  to  a  new  charge.  It  happened  that  the 
Lady  Cromwell,  on  her  return  home,  dreamed  of  her 
day’s  work,  and  especially  of  the  old  dame  and  her 
cat ;  and  as  her  ladyship  died  in  a  year  and  quarter 
from  that  very  day,  it  was  sagaciously  concluded 
that  she  must  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the  witcheries 
of  the  terrible  Dame  Samuel.  Mr.  Throgmorton 
also  compelled  the  old  woman  and  her  daughter  to 
use  expressions  which  put  their  lives  in  the  power 
of  these  malignant  children,  who  had  carried  on  the 
farce  so  long  that  they  could  not  well  escape  from 
their  own  web  of  deceit  but  by  the  death  of  these 
helpless  creatures :  for  example,  the  prisoner,  Dame 
Samuel,  was  induced  to  say  to  the  supposed  spirit, 
“  As  1  am  a  witch,  and  a  causer  of  Lady  Cromwell’s 
death,  I  charge  thee  to  come  out  of  the  maiden.” 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


207 


The  girl  lay  still ;  and  this  was  accounted  a  proof 
that  the  poor  woman,  who,  only  subdued  and  crushed 
by  terror  and  tyranny,  did  as  she  was  bidden,  was  a 
witch.  One  is  ashamed  of  an  English  judge  and 
jury,  when  it  must  be  repeated,  that  the  evidence  of 
these  enthusiastic  and  giddy-pated  girls  was  deemed 
sufficient  to  the  condemnation  of  three  innocent  per¬ 
sons.  Goody  Samuel,  indeed,  was  at  length  worried 
into  a  confession  of  her  guilt,  by  the  various  vexations 
which  were  practised  on  her.  But  her  husband  and 
daughter  continued  to  maintain  their  innocence. 
The  last  showed  a  high  spiiit,  and  proud  value  for 
her  character.  She  was  advised  by  some,  who 
pitied  her  youth,  to  gain  at  least  a  respite  by  plead¬ 
ing  pregnancy ;  to  which  she  answered  disdainfully, 
“  No,  I  will  not  be  both  held  witch  and  strumpet !” 
The  mother,  to  show  her  sanity  of  mind,  and  the 
real  value  of  her  confession,  caught  at  the  advice  re¬ 
commended  to  her  daughter.  As  her  years  put  such 
a  plea  out  of  the  question,  there  was  a  laugh  among 
the  unfeeling  audience,  in  which  the  poor  old  victim 
joined  loudly  and  heartily.  Some  there  were  who 
thought  it  no  joking  matter,  and  were  inclined  to 
think  they  had  a  Joanna  Southcote  before  them,  and 
that  the  Devil  must  be  the  father.  These  unfortunate 
Samuels  were  condemned  at  Huntingdon,  before  Mr. 
Justice  Fenner,  4th  April,  1593.  It  was  a  singular 
case  to  be  commemorated  by  an  annual  lecture,  as 
provided  by  Sir  Samuel  Cromwell ;  for  the  purposes 
of  Justice  were  never  so  perverted,  nor  her  sword 
turned  to  a  more  flagrant  murder. 

We  may  here  mention,  though  mainly  for  the  sake 
of  contrast,  the  much-disputed  case  of  Jane  Wenham, 
the  witch  of  Walkerne,  as  she  was  termed;  which 
was  of  a  much  later  date.  Some  of  the  country 
clergy  were  carried  away  by  the  landflood  of  super¬ 
stition  in  this  instance  also,  and  not  only  encouraged 
the  charge,  but  gave  their  countenance  to  some  of 
the  ridiculous  and  indecent  tricks  resorted  to  as 


208 


LETTERS  ON 


proofs  of  witchcraft  by  the  lowest  vulgar.  But  the 
good  sense  of  the  judge,  seconded  by  that  of  other 
reflecting  and  sensible  persons,  saved  the  country 
from  the  ultimate  disgrace  attendant  on  too  many  of 
these  unhallowed  trials.  The  usual  sort  of  evidence 
>vas  brought  against  this  poor  woman,  by  pretences 
of  bewitched  persons  vomiting  fire ;  a  trick  very 
easy  to  those  who  chose  to  exhibit  such  a  piece  of 
jugglery,  among  such  as  rather  desire  to  be  taken  in 
by  it,  than  to  detect  the  imposture.  The  witchfinder 
practised  upon  her  the  most  vulgar  and  ridiculous 
tricks,  or  charms ;  and  out  of  a  perverted  examina¬ 
tion,  they  drew  what  they  called  a  confession,  though 
of  a  forced  and  mutilated  character.  Under  such 
proof  the  jury  brought  her  in  guilty,  and  she  was 
necessarily  condemned  to  die.  More  fortunate,  how¬ 
ever,  than  many  persons  placed  in  the  like  circum¬ 
stances,  Jane  Wenham  was  tried  before  a  sensible 
and  philosophic  judge,  who  could  not  understand  that 
the  'life  of  an  Englishwoman,  however  mean,  should 
be  taken  away  by  a  set  of  barbarous  tricks  and  ex¬ 
periments,  the  efficacy  of  which  depended  on  popular 
credulity.  He  reprieved  the  witch  before  he  left  the 
assize  town.  The  rest  of  the  history  is  equally  a 
contrast  to  some  we  have  told,  and  others  we  shall 
have  to  recount.  A  humane  and  high-spirited  gen¬ 
tleman,  Colonel  Plummer  of  Gilston,  putting  at  defi 
ance  popular  calumny,  placed  the  poor  old  woman 
in  a  small  house  near  Iris  own,  and  under  his  imme 
diate  protection.  Here  she  lived  and  died,  in  honest 
and  fair  reputation,  edifying  her  visiters  by  her  ac¬ 
curacy  and  attention  in  repeating  her  devotions ;  and, 
removed  from  her  brutal  and  malignant  neighbours, 
never  afterward  gave  the  slightest  cause  of  suspicion 
or  offence  till  her  dying  day.  As  this  was  one  of 
the  last  cases  of  conviction  in  England,  Dr.  Hutchi¬ 
son  has  been  led  to  dilate  upon  it  with  some  strength 
of  eloquence  as  well  as  argument. 

He  thus  expostulates  with  some  of  the  better 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


209 


class  that  were  eager  for  the  prosecution : — “  1. 
What  single  fact  of  sorcery  did  this  Jane  Wenham 
do  ?  What  charm  did  she  use,  or  what  act  of  witch¬ 
craft  could  you  prove  upon  her  1  Laws  are  against 
evil  actions,  that  can  be  proved  to  be  of  the  person’s 
doing — What  single  fact  that  was  against  the  statute 
could  you  fix  upon  her  ?  I  ask,  2.  Did  she  so  much 
as  speak  an  imprudent  word,  or  do  an  immoral  ac¬ 
tion,  that  you  could  put  into  the  narrative  of  her  case  ? 
When  she  was  denied  a  few  turnips,  she  laid  them 
down  very  submissively — when,  she  was  called  witch, 
and  bitch,  she  only  took  the  proper  means  for  the 
vindication  of  her  good  name — when  she  saw  this 
storm  coming  upon  her,  she  lock’d  herself  in  her 
own  house,  and  tried  to  keep  herself  out  of  your 
cruel  hands — When  her  door  was  broken  open,  and 
you  gave  way  to  that  barbarous  usage  that  she  met 
with,  she  protested  her  innocence,  fell  upon  her 
knees,  and  begg’d  she  might  not  go  to  jail,  and,  in 
her  innocent  simplicity,  would  have  let  you  swim 
her ;  and  at  her  tryal,  she  declar’d  herself  a  clear 
woman.  This  was  her  behaviour ;  and  what  could 
any  of  us  have  done  better,  excepting  in  that  case 
where  she  comply’d  with  you  too  much,  and  offered 
to  let  you  swim  her  ? 

“3.  When  you  used  the  meanest  of  paganish 
and  popish  superstitions — when  you  scratch’d,  and 
mangled,  and  ran  pins  into  her  flesh,  and  used  that 
ridiculous  tryal  of  the  bottle,  &c. — whom  did  you 
consult — and  from  whom  did  you  expect  your  an¬ 
swers  1  who  was  your  father — and  into  whose  hands 
did  you  put  yourselves  1  and  if  the  true  sense  of 
the  statute  had  been  turn’d  upon  you,  which  way 
would  you  have  defended  3murselves?  4.  Durst 
you  have  used  her  in  this  manner  if  she  had  been 
rich ;  and  doth  not  her  poverty  increase  rather  than 
lessen  your  guilt  in  what  you  did  1 

“  And  therefore,  instead  of  closing  your  book  with 
a  liberavimus  animas  nostras ,  and  reflecting  upon  the 

S  2 


210 


LETTERS  ON 


court,  I  ask  you,  5.  Whether  you  have  not  more  reasor, 
to  give  God  thanks  that  you  met  with  a  wise  judge, 
and  a  sensible  gentleman,  who  kept  you  from  shed 
ding  innocent  blood,  and  reviving  the  meanest  and 
crudest  of  all  superstitions  among  us  ?”* 

But  although  individuals  of  the  English  church 
might,  on  some  occasions,  be  justly  accused  of  falling 
into  lamentable  errors  on  a  subject  where  error  was 
so  general,  it  was  not  a  usual  point  of  their  pro¬ 
fessional  character ;  and  it  must  be  admitted,  that  the 
most  severe  of  the  laws  against  wiichcraft  originated 
with  a  Scottish  King  of  England ;  and  that  the  only 
extensive  persecution  following  that  statute,  occurred 
during  the  time  of  the  Civil  Wars,  when  the  Cal¬ 
vinists  obtained,  for  a  short  period,  a  predominating 
influence  in  the  councils  of  Parliament. 

James  succeeded  to  Elizabeth  amid  the  highest 
expectations  on  the  part  of  his  new  people,  who, 
besides  their  general  satisfaction  at  coming  once 
more  under  the  rule  of  a  king,  were  also  proud  of 
his  supposed  abilities  and  real  knowledge  of  books 
and  languages,  and  were  naturally,  though  impru¬ 
dently,  disposed  to  gratify  him  by  deferring  to  his 
judgment  in  matters  wherein  his  studies  were  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  rendered  him  a  special  proficient. 
Unfortunately,  besides  the  more  harmless  freak  of 
becoming  a  Prentice  in  the  art  of  Poetry,  by  which 
words  and  numbers  were  the  only  sufferers,  the  mo¬ 
narch  had  composed  a  deep  work  upon  Demonology, 
embracing,  in  their  fullest  extent,  the  most  absurd 
and  gross  of  the  popular  errors  on  this  subject.  He 
considered  his  crown  and  life  as  habitually  aimed  at 
by  the  sworn  slaves  of  Satan.  Several  had  been  ex¬ 
ecuted  for  an  attempt  to  poison  him  by  magical  arts ; 
and  the  turbulent  Francis  Stewart,  Earl  of  Bothwell, 
whose  repeated  attempts  on  his  person  had  long  been 
James’s  tenor,  had  begun  his  course  of  rebellion  by 


*  Hutchison’s  Essay  on  Witchcraft,  p.  1 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  211 

a  consultation  with  the  weird  sisters  and  soothsayers. 
Thus  the  king,  who  had  proved  with  his  pen  the 
supposed  sorcerers  to  be  the  direct  enemies  of  the 
Deity,  and  who  conceived  he  knew  them  from  expe¬ 
rience  to  be  his  own,  who,  moreover,  had,  upon  much 
lighter  occasions  (as  in  the  case  of  Vorstius),  showed 
no  hesitation  at  throwing  his  royal  authority  into  the 
scale  to  aid  his  arguments,  very  naturally  used  his 
influence  when  it  was  at  the  highest,  to  extend  and 
enforce  the  laws  against  a  crime  which  he  both  hated 
and  feared. 

The  English  statute  against  witchcraft,  passed  in 
the  very  first  year  of  that  reign,  is  therefore  of  a 
most  special  nature,  describing  witchcraft  by  all  the 
various  modes  and  ceremonies  in  which,  according  to 
King  James’s  fancy,  that  crime  could  be  perpetrated; 
each  of  which  was  declared  felony,  without  benefit 
of  clergy. 

This  gave  much  wider  scope  to  prosecution  on 
the  statute  than  had  existed  under  the  milder  acts  of 
Elizabeth.  Men  might  now  be  punished  for  the 
practice  of  witchcraft,  as  itself  a  crime,  without 
necessary  reference  to  the  ulterior  objects  of  the 
perpetrator.  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  same  year, 
when  the  legislature  rather  adopted  the  passions  and 
fears  of  the  king,  than  expressed  their  own,  by  this 
fatal  enactment,  the  Convocation  of  the  Church 
evinced  a  very  different  spirit ;  for,  seeing  the  ridi¬ 
cule  brought  on  their  sacred  profession  by  forward 
and  presumptuous  men,  in  the  attempt  to  relieve 
demoniacs  from  a  disease  which  was  commonly  oc¬ 
casioned  by  natural  causes,  if  not  the  mere  creature 
of  imposture,  they  passed  a  canon,  establishing  that 
no  minister  or  ministers  should  in  future  attempt  to 
expel  any  devil  or  devils,  without  the  license  of  his 
bishop ;  thereby  virtually  putting  a  stop  to  a  fertile 
source  of  knavery  among  the  people,  and  disgraceful 
folly  among  the  inferior  churchmen. 

The  new  statute  of  James  does  not,  however,  appear 


212 


LETTERS  ON 


to  have  led  at  first  to  many  prosecutions.  One  of 
the  most  remarkable  was  ( proh  pudor!)  instigated 
by  a  gentleman,  a  scholar  of  classical  taste,  and  a 
beautiful  poet,  being  no  other  than  Edward  Fairfax, 
of  Fayston,  in  Knaresborough  Forest,  the  translator 
of  Tasso’s  “Jerusalem  Delivered.”  In  allusion  to 
his  credulity  on  such  subjects,  Collins  has  introduced 
the  following  elegant  lines : 

“  How  have  I  sate  while  piped  the  pensive  wind, 

To  hear  thy  harp,  by  British  Fairfax  strung ; 

Prevailing  poet,  whose  undoubting  mind 
Believed  the  magic  wonders  which  he  sung !” 

Like  Mr.  Throgmorton  in  the  Warbois  case,  Mr. 
Fairfax  accused  six  of  his  neighbours  of  tormenting 
his  children  by  fits  of  an  extraordinary  kind,  by  imps, 
and  by  appearing  before  the  afflicted  in  theirown  shape 
during  the  crisis  of  these  operations.  The  admitting 
this  last  circumstance  to  be  a  legitimate  mode  of 
proof,  gave  a  most  cruel  advantage  against  the 
accused,  for  it  could  not,  according  to  the  ideas  of 
the  demonologists,  be  confuted  even  by  the  most 
distinct  alibi.  To  a  defence  of  that  sort,  it  was 
replied,  that  the  afflicted  person  did  not  see  the  actual 
witch,  whose  corporeal  presence  must  indeed  have 
been  obvious  to  every  one  in  the  room  as  well  as  to  the 
afflicted,  but  that  the  evidence  of  the  sufferers  related 
to  the  appearance  of  their  spectre ,  or  apparition ;  and 
this  was  accounted  a  sure  sign  of  guilt  in  those  whose 
forms  were  so  manifested  during  the  fits  of  the 
afflicted,  and  who  were  complained  of  and  cried  out 
upon  by  the  victim.  The  obvious  tendency  of  this 
doctrine,  as  to  visionary  or  spectral  evidence,  as  it 
was  called,  was  to  place  the  life  and  fame  of  the 
accused  in  the  power  of  any  hypochondriac  patient 
or  malignant  impostor,  who  might  either  seem  to  see, 
or  aver  she  saw,  the  spectrum  of  the  accused  old  man 
or  old  woman,  as  if  enjoying  and  urging  on  the 
afflictions  which  she  complained  of ;  and,  strange  to 


I 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  213 

tell,  the  fatal  sentence  was  to  rest  not  upon  the  truth 
of  the  witnesses’  eyes,  but  that  of  their  imagina¬ 
tion.  It  happened  fortunately  for  Fairfax’s  memo¬ 
ry,  that  the  objects  of  his  prosecution  were  persons 
of  good  character,  and  that  the  judge  was  a  man 
of  sense,  and  made  so  wise  and  skilful  a  charge  to 
the  jury,  that  they  brought  in  a  verdict  of  Not 
Guilty. 

The  celebrated  case  of  “  the  Lancashire  witches” 
(whose  name  was,  and  will  be,  long  remembered, 
partly  from  Shadwell’s  play,  but  more  from  the  in¬ 
genious  and  well-merited  compliment  to  the  beauty 
of  the  females  of  that  province,  which  it  was  held  to 
contain)  followed  soon  after.  Whether  the  first  no¬ 
tice  of  this  sorcery  sprung  from  the  idle  head  of  a 
mischievous  boy,  is  uncertain ;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  was  speedily  caught  up  and  fostered  for  the 
purpose  of  gain.  The  original  story  ran  thus: 

These  Lancaster  trials  were  at  two  periods,  the 
one  in  1613,  before  Sir  James  Altham  and  Sir  Ed¬ 
ward  Bromley,  Barons  of  Exchequer,  when  nineteen 
witches  were  tried  at  once  at  Lancaster,  and  another 
of  the  name  of  Preston,  at  York.  The  report  against 
these  people  is  drawn  up  by  Thomas  Potts.  An 
obliging  correspondent  sent  me  a  sight  of  a  copy  of 
this  curious  and  rare  book.  The  chief  personage  in 
the  drama  is  Elizabeth  Southam,  a  witch  redoubted 
under  the  name  of  Dembdike,  an  account  of  whom 
may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Roby’s  Antiquities  of  Lancaster, 
as  well  as  a  description  of  Maulkins’  Tower,  the 
witches’  place  of  meeting.  It  appears  that  this  re¬ 
mote  oountry  was  full  of  Popish  recusants,  travelling 
priests,  and  so  forth ;  and  some  of  their  spells  are 
given,  in  which  the  holy  names  and  things  alluded  to 
form  a  strange  contrast  with  the  purpose  to  which 
they  were  applied,  as  to  secure  a  good  brewing  of 
ale  or  the  like.  The  public  imputed  to  the  accused 
parties  a  long  train  of  murders,  conspiracies,  charms, 
mischances,  hellish  and  damnable  practices,  “ap- 


214 


LETTERS  ON 


parent,”  says  the  editor,  “  on  their  own  examinations 
and  confessions,”  and  to  speak  the  truth,  visible  no¬ 
where  else.  Mother  Dembdike  had  the  good  luck  to 
die  before  conviction.  Among  other  tales,  we  have 
one  of  two  female  devils,  called  Fancy  and  Tib.  It 
is  remarkable  that  some  of  the  unfortunate  women 
endeavoured  to  transfer  the  guilt  from  themselves  to 
others  with  whom  they  had  old  quarrels,  which  con¬ 
fessions  were  held  good  evidence  against  those  who 
made  them,  and  against  the  alleged  accomplice  also. 
Several  of  the  unhappy  women  were  found  Not  Guil¬ 
ty,  to  the  great  displeasure  of  the  ignorant  people 
of  the  county.  Such  was  the  first  edition  of  the 
Lancashire  witches.  In  that  which  follows,  the  ac¬ 
cusation  can  be  more  clearly  traced  to  the  most  vil- 
lanous  conspiracy. 

About  1634,  a  boy  called  Edmund  Robinson,  whose 
father,  a  very  poor  man,  dwelt  in  Pendle  Forest,  the 
scene  of  the  alleged  witching,  declared,  that  while 
gathering  bullees  (wild  plums,  perhaps),  in  one  of  the 
glades  of  the  forest,  he  saw  two  greyhounds,  which 
he  imagined  to  belong  to  gentlemen  in  that  neigh¬ 
bourhood.  The  boy  reported  that,  seeing  nobody 
following  them,  he  proposed  to  have  a  course ;  but 
though  a  hare  was  started,  the  dogs  refused  to  run. 
On  this,  young  Robinson  was  about  to  punish  them 
with  a  switch,  when  one  Dame  Dickenson,  a  neigh¬ 
bour’s  wife,  started  up  instead  of  the  one  greyhound ; 
a  little  boy  instead  of  the  other.  The  witness  aver¬ 
red,  that  Mother  Dickenson  offered  him  money  to 
conceal  what  he  had  seen,  which  he  refused,  saying 
“Nay,  thou  art  a  witch.”  Apparently,  she  was  de¬ 
termined  he  should  have  full  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
what  he  said,  for,  like  the  Magician  Queen  in  the 
Arabian  Tales,  she  pulled  out  of  her  pocket  a  bridle, 
and  shook,  it  over  the  head  of  the  boy  who  had  so 
lately  represented  the  other  greyhound.  He  was  di¬ 
rectly  changed  into  a  horse;  Mother  Dickenson 
mounted,  and  took  Robinson  before  her.  They  then 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


215 


rode  to  a  large  house,  or  barn,  called  Hourstoun,  into 
which  Edmund  Robinson  entered  with  others.  He 
there  saw  six  or  seven  persons  pulling  at  halters, 
from  which,  as  they  pulled  them,  meat  ready  dressed 
came  flying  in  quantities,  together  with  lumps  of 
butter,  porringers  of  milk,  and  whatever  else  might, 
in  the  boy’s  fancy,  complete  a  rustic  feast.  He  de¬ 
clared,  that  while  engaged  in  the  charm,  they  made 
such  ugly  faces,  and  looked  so  fiendish,  that  he  was 
frightened.  There  was  more  to  the  same  purpose — 
as  the  boy’s  having  seen  one  of  these  hags  sitting 
half  way  up  his  father’s  chimney,  and  some  such 
goodly  matter.  But  it  ended  in  near  a  score  of  per¬ 
sons  being  committed  to  prison ;  and  the  consequence 
was,  that  young  Robinson  was  carried  from  church 
to  church  in  the  neighbourhood,  that  he  might  re¬ 
cognise  the  faces  of  any  persons  he  had  seen  at  the 
rendezvous  of  witches.  Old  Robinson,  who  had  been 
an  evidence  against  the  former  witches  in  1613,  went 
along  with  his  son,  and  knew,  doubtless,  how  to 
make  his  journey  profitable ;  and  his  son  probably 
took  care  to  recognise  none  who  might  make  a  hand¬ 
some  consideration.  “This  boy,”  says  Webster, 
“  was  brought  into  the  Church  of  Kildwick,  a  parish 
Church,  where  I,  being  then  curate  there,  was  preach¬ 
ing  at  the  time,  to  look  about  him,  which  made  some 
little  disturbance  for  the  time.”  After  prayers,  Mr. 
Webster  sought  and  found  the  boy,  and  two  very  un¬ 
likely  persons,  who,  says  he,  “  did  conduct  him  and 
manage  the  business;  I  did  desire  some  discourse 
with  the  boy  in  private,  but  that  they  utterly  denied. 
In  the  presence  of  a  great  many  people,  I  took  the 
boy  near  me,  and  said,  ‘  Good  boy,  tell  me  truly,  and  in 
earnest,  didst  thou  hear  and  see  such  strange  things 
of  the  motions  of  the  witches,  as  many  do  report 
that  thou  didst  relate,  or  did  not  some  person  teach 
thee  to  say  such  things  of  thyself?’  But  the  two  men 
did  pluck  the  boy  from  me,  and  said  he  had  been  ex¬ 
amined  by  two  able  justices  of  peace,  and  they  never 


216 


LETTERS  ON 


asked  him  such  a  question.  To  whom  I  replied, 
‘  The  persons  accused  had  the  more  wrong.’  ”  The 
boy  afterward  acknowledged,  in  his  more  advanced 
years,  that  he  was  instructed  and  suborned  to  swear 
these  things  against  the  accused  persons,  by  his  fa¬ 
ther  and  others,  and  was  heard  often  to  confess,  that 
on  the  day  which  he  pretended  to  see  the  said 
witches  at  the  house,  or  barn,  he  was  gathering  plums 
in  a  neighbour’s  orchard.* 

There  was  now  approaching  a  time,  when  the  law 
against  witchcraft,  sufficiently  bloody  in  itself,  was 
to  be  pushed  to  more  violent  extremities  than  the 
quiet  skepticism  of  the  Church  of  England  clergy 
gave  way  to.  The  great  Civil  War  had  been  pre¬ 
ceded  and  anticipated  by  the  fierce  disputes  of  the  ec¬ 
clesiastical  parties.  The  rash  and  ill-judged  attempt 
to  enforce  upon  the  Scottish  a  compliance  with  the 
government  and  ceremonies  of  the  High  Church  di¬ 
vines,  and  the  severe  prosecutions  in  the  Star  Cham¬ 
ber  and  Prerogative  Courts,  had  given  the  Presbyte¬ 
rian  system  for  a  season  a  great  degree  of  popularity 
in  England ;  and  as  the  king’s  party  declined  during 
the  Civil  War,  and  the  state  of  church-government 
was  altered,  the  influence  of  the  Calvinistical  divines 
increased.  With  much  strict  morality  and  pure  prac¬ 
tice  of  religion,  it  is  to  be  regretted  these  were  still 
marked  by  unhesitating  belief  in  the  existence  of  sor¬ 
cery,  and  a  keen  desire  to  extend  and  enforce  the  le¬ 
gal  penalties  against  it.  Wier  has  considered  the 
clergy  of  every  sect  as  being  too  eager  in  this  spe¬ 
cies  of  persecution:  Ad  grnvemhanc  irnpietatem,  con~ 
invent  theologi  plerique  omnes.  But  it  is  not  to  be 
denied  that  the  Presbyterian  ecclesiastics,  who,  in 
Scotland,  were  often  appointed  by  the  Privy  Council 
commissioners  for  the  trial  of  witchcraft,  evinced  a 
very  extraordinary  degree  of  credulity  in  such  cases, 
and  that  the  temporary  superiority  of  the  same  sect 


*  Webster  on  Witchcraft  edition  1677,  p.  278. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  217 

in  England  was  marked  by  enormous  cruelties  of 
this  kind.  To  this  general  error  we  must  impute  the 
misfortune,  that  good  men,  such  as  Calarny  and  Bax¬ 
ter,  should  have  countenanced  or  defended  such  pro¬ 
ceedings  as  those  of  the  impudent  and  cruel  wretch 
called  Matthew  Hopkins,  who,  in  those  unsettled 
times,  when  men  did  what  seemed  good  in  their  own 
eyes,  assumed  the  title  of  WitcMnder  General,  and 
travelling  through  the  counties  of  Essex,  Sussex, 
Norfolk,  and  Huntingdon,  pretended  to  discover 
witches,  superintending  their  examination  by  the 
most  unheard-of  tortures,  and  compelling  forlorn  and 
miserable  wretches  to  admit  and  confess  matters 
equally  absurd  and  impossible;  the  issue  of which  was 
the  forfeiture  of  their  lives.  Before  examining  these 
cases  more  minutely,  I  will  quote  Baxter’s  own 
words ;  for  no  one  can  have  less  desire  to  wrong  a 
devout  and  conscientious  man,  such  as  that  divine 
most  unquestionably  was,  though  borne  aside  on  this 
occasion  by  prejudice  and  credulity. 

“  The  hanging  of  a  great  number  of  witches  in 
1645  and  1646  is  famously  known.  Mr.  Calamy 
went  along  with  the  judges  on  the  circuit,  to  hear 
their  confessions,  and  see  there  was  no  fraud  or 
wrong  done  them.  I  spoke  with  many  understand¬ 
ing,  pious,  learned,  and  credible  persons,  that  lived 
in  the  counties,  and  some  that  went  to  them  in  the 
prisons,  and  heard  their  sad  confessions.  Among 
the  rest,  an  old  reading  parson,  named  Lowis,  not 
far  from  Framlingham,  was  one  that  was  hanged, 
who  confessed  that  he  had  two  imps,  and  that  one 
of  them  was  always  putting  him  upon  doing  mis¬ 
chief  ;  and  he  being  near  the  sea,  as  he  saw  a  ship 
under  sail,  it  moved  him  to  send  it  to  sink  the  ship ; 
and  he  consented,  and  saw  the  ship  sink  before 
them.”  Mr.  Baxter  passes  on  to  another  story  of  a 
mother,  who  gave  her  child  an  imp  like  a  mole,  and 
told  her  to  keep  it  in  a  can  near  the  fire,  and  she 

T 


218 


LETTERS  ON 


would  never  want ;  and  more  such  stuff  as  nursery 
maids  tell  froward  children  to  keep  them  quiet. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  this  passage,  Baxter 
names  the  Witchfinder  General  rather  slightly,  as 
“one  Hopkins,”  and  without  doing  him  the  justice 
due  to  one  who  had  discovered  more  than  one  hun¬ 
dred  witches,  and  brought  them  to  confessions  which 
that  good  man  received  as  indubitable.  Perhaps 
the  learned  divine  was  one  of  those  who  believed 
that  the  Witchfinder  General  had  cheated  the  Devil 
out  of  a  certain  memorandum-book,  in  which  Satan, 
for  the  benefit  of  his  memory  certainly,  had  entered 
all  the  witches’  names  in  England,  and  that  Hopkins 
availed  himself  of  this  record.* 

It  may  be  noticed,  that  times  of  misrule  and  vio¬ 
lence  seem  to  create  individuals  fitted  to  take  ad¬ 
vantage  from  them,  and  having  a  character  suited  to 
the  seasons  which  raise  them  into  notice  and  action ; 
just  as  a  blight  on  any  tree  or  vegetable  calls  to  life 
a  peculiar  insect  to  feed  upon  and  enjoy  the  decay 
which  it  has  produced.  A  monster  like  Hopkins 
could  only  have  existed  during  the  confusion  of 
civil  dissension.  He  was,  perhaps,  a  native  of 
Manningtree,  in  Essex ;  at  any  rate,  he  resided  there 
in  the  year  1644,  when  an  epidemic  outcry  of  witch¬ 
craft  arose  in  that  town.  Upon  this  occasion  he 
had  made  himself  busy,  and  affecting  more  zeal  and 
knowledge  than  other  men,  learned  his  trade  of  a 
witchfinder,  as  he  pretends,  from  experiment.  He 
was  afterward  permitted  to  perform  it  as  a  legal 
profession,  and  moved  from  one  place  to  another, 
with  an  assistant  named  Sterne,  and  a  female.  In 

*  This  reproach  is  noticed  in  a  very  rare  tract,  which  was  bought  at 
Mr.Lort’s  sale,  by  the  celebrated  collector  Mr. Bindley,  and  is  now  in 
the  author’s  possession.  Its  full  title  is,  “The  Discovery  of  Witches, 
in  Answer  to  several  Queries  lately  delivered  to  the  Judge  of  Assize  for 
the  County  of  Norfolk ;  and  now  published  by  Matthew  Hopkins, 
Witchfinder,  for  the  Benefit  of  the  whole  Kingdom.  Printed  for  It 
Hoyston,  at  the  Angel,  in  Inn  Lane.  1647.” 


Demonology  and  witchcraft.  219 


his  defence  against  an  accusation  of  fleecing  the 
country,  he  declares  his  regular  charge  was  twenty 
shillings  a  town,  including  charges  of  living,  and 
journeying  thither  and  back  again  with  his  as¬ 
sistants.  He  also  affirms,  that  he  went  nowhere 
unless  called  and  invited.  His  principal  mode  of 
discovery  was,  to  strip  the  accused  persons  naked, 
and  thrust  pins  into  various  parts  of  their  body,  to 
discover  the  witch’s  mark,  which  "was  supposed  to 
be  inflicted  by  the  Devil,  as  a  sign  of  his  sovereignty, 
and  at  which  she  was  also  said  to  suckle  her  imps. 
He  also  practised  and  stoutly  defended  the  trial  by 
swimming,  when  the  suspected  person  was  wrapped 
in  a  sheet,  having  the  great  toes  and  thumbs  tied 
together,  and  so  dragged  through  a  pond  or  river. 
If  she  sank,  it  was  received  in  favour  of  the  ac¬ 
cused  ;  but  if  the  body  floated  (which  must  have  oc¬ 
curred  ten  times  for  once,  if  it  was  placed  with  care 
on  the  surface  of  the  water),  the  accused  was  con¬ 
demned,  on  the  principle  of  King  James,  who,  in 
treating  of  this  mode  of  trial,  lays  down,  that  as 
witches  have  renounced  their  baptism,  so  it  is  just 
that  the  element  through  which  the  holy  rite  is  en¬ 
forced,  should  reject  them;  which  is  a  figure  of 
speech,  and  no  argument.  It  was  Hopkins’s  custom 
to  keep  the  poor  wretches  waking,  in  order  to  pre¬ 
vent  them  from  having  encouragement  from  the 
Devil,  and,  doubtless,  to  put  infirm,  terrified,  over¬ 
watched  persons  in  the  next  state  to  absolute  mad¬ 
ness  ;  and,  for  the  same  purpose,  they  were  dragged 
about  by  their  keepers,  till  extreme  weariness  and 
the  pain  of  blistered  feet  might  form  additional  in¬ 
ducements  to  confession.  Hopkins  confesses  these 
last  practices  of  keeping  the  accused  persons  w'aking, 
and  forcing  them  to  walk,  for  the  same  purpose,  had 
been  originally  used  by  him.  But  as  his  tract  is  a 
professed  answer  to  charges  of  cruelty  and  oppres¬ 
sion,  he  affirms  that  both  practices  were  then  dis¬ 
used,  and  that  they  had  not  of  late  been  resorted  to. 


220 


LETTERS  ON 


The  boast  of  the  English  nation  is  a  manly  inde¬ 
pendence  and  common  sense,  which  will  not  long 
permit  the  license  of  tyranny  or  oppression  on  the 
meanest  and  most  obscure  sufferers.  Many  clergy¬ 
men  and  gentlemen  made  head  against  the  practices 
of  this  cruel  oppressor  of  the  defenceless,  and  it  re¬ 
quired  courage  to  do  so,  when  such  an  unscrupulous 
villain  had  so  much  interest. 

Mr.  Gaul,  a  clergyman  of  Houghton  in  Hunting¬ 
donshire,  had  the  courage  to  appear  in  print  on  the 
weaker  side ;  and  Hopkins,  in  consequence,  assumed 
the  assurance  to  write  to  some  functionaries  of  the 
place  the  following  letter,  which  is  an  admirable 
medley  of  impudence,  bullying,  and  cowardice : — 

“  My  service  to  your  worship  presented. — I  have 
this  day  received  a  letter  to  come  to  a  town  called 
Great  Houghton,  to  search  for  evil  disposed  persons 
called  witches  (though  I  hear  your  minister  is  far 
against  us,  through  ignorance).  I  intend  to  come, 
God  willing,  the  sooner  to  hear  his  singular  judg¬ 
ment  in  the  behalf  of  such  parties.  I  have  known 
a  minister  in  Suffolk,  as  much  against  this  discovery 
in  a  pulpit,  and  forced  to  recant  it  by  the  Com¬ 
mittee,*  in  the  same  place.  I  much  marvel  such 
evil  men  should  have  any  (much  more  any  of  the 
clergy,  who  should  daily  speak  terror  to  convince 
such  offenders)  stand  up  to  take  their  parts  against 
such  as  are  complainants  for  the  king,  and  sufferers 
themselves,  with  their  families  and  estates.  I  in¬ 
tend  to  give  your  town  a  visit  suddenly.  I  will 
come  to  Kimbolton  this  week,  and  it  will  be  ten  to 
one  but  I  will  come  to  your  town  first ;  but  I  would 
certainly  know  before,  whether  your  town  affords 
many  sticklers  for  such  cattle,  or  is  wdling  to  give 
and  allow  us  good  welcome  and  entertainment,  as 
others  where  1  have  been,  else  I  shall  waive  your 
shire  (not  as  yet  beginning  in  any  part  of  it  myself), 


*  Of  Parliament. 


DEMONOLCGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


221 


■and  betake  me  to  such  places  where  I  do  and  may 
punish  (not  only)  without  control,  but  with  thanks 
and  recompense.  So  I  humbly  take  my  leave,  and 
rest  your  servant  to  be  commanded, 

“  Matthew  Hopkins.” 

The  sensible  and  courageous  Mr.  Gaul  describes 
the  tortures  employed  by  this  fellow  as  equal  to  any 
practised  in  the  Inquisition.  “  Having  taken  the 
suspected  witch,  she  is  placed  in  the  middle  of  a 
room,  upon  a  stool  or  table,  cross-legged,  or  in  some 
other  uneasy  posture,  to  which,  if  she  submits  not, 
she  is  then  bound  with  cords  ;  there  she  is  watched, 
and  kept  without  meat  or  sleep  for  four-and-twenty 
hours,  for  they  say,  they  shall  within  that  time  see 
her  imp  come  and  suck.  A  little  hole  is  likewise 
made  in  the  door  for  the  imps  to  come  in  at ;  and 
lest  they  should  come  in  some  less  discernible  shape, 
they  that  watch  are  taught  to  be  ever  and  anon 
sweeping  the  room ;  and  if  they  see  any  spiders  or 
flies  to  kill  them,  and  if  they  cannot  kill  them,  they 
may  be  sure  they  are  their  imps.” 

If  torture  of  this  kind  was  applied  to  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Lewis,  whose  death  is  too  slightly  announced 
by  Mr.  Baxter,  we  can  conceive  him,  or  any  man, 
to  have  indeed  become  so  weary  of  his  life  as  to  ac¬ 
knowledge,  that  by  means  of  his  imps,  he  sunk  a 
vessel,  without  any  purpose  of  gratification  to  be 
procured  to  himself  by  such  iniquity.  But  in  ano¬ 
ther  cause,  a  judge  would  have  demanded  some 
proof  of  the  corpus  delicti ,  some  evidence  of  a  vessel 
being  lost  at  the  period,  whence  coming  and  whither 
bound;  in  short,  something  to  establish  that  the 
whole  story  was  not  the  idle  imagination  of  a  man 
who  might  have  been  entirely  deranged,  and  certainly 
was  so  at  the  time  he  made  the  admission.  John  Lewis 
was  presented  to  the  Vicarage  of  Brandiston,  near 
Framlington  in  Suffolk,  6th  of  May,  1596,  where  he 
lived  about  fifty  years,  till  executed  as  a  wizard,  on 

T  2 


222 


LETTERS  ON 


such  evidence  as  we  have  seen.  Notwithstanding 
the  story  of  his  alleged  confession,  he  defended  him¬ 
self  courageously  at  his  trial,  and  was  probably  con¬ 
demned  rather  as  a  royalist  and  malignant,  than  for 
any  other  cause.  He  showed  at  the  execution  con¬ 
siderable  energy,  and  to  secure  that  the  funeral  ser¬ 
vice  of  the  church  should  be  said  over  his  body,  he 
read  it  aloud  for  himself  while  on  the  road  to  the 
gibbet. 

We  have  seen  that,  in  1647,  Hopkins’  tone  became 
lowered,  and  he  began  to  disavow  some  of  the  cruel¬ 
ties  he  had  formerly  practised.  About  the  same 
time,  a  miserable  old  woman  had  fallen  into  the 
cruel  hands  of  this  miscreant  near  Hoxne,  a  village 
in  Suffolk,  and  had  confessed  all  the  usual  enonnities, 
after  being  without  food  or  rest  a  sufficient  time. 
Her  imp,  she  said,  was  called  Nan.  A  gentleman 
in  the  neighbourhood,  whose  widow  survived  to  au¬ 
thenticate  the  story,  was  so  indignant,  that  he  went 
to  the  house,  took  the  woman  out  of  such  inhuman 
hands,  dismissed  the  witchfinders,  and  after  due  food 
and  rest,  the  poor  old  woman  could  recollect  nothing 
of  the  confession,  but  that  she  gave  a  favourite  pullet 
the  name  of  Nan.  For  this  Dr.  Hutchison  may  be 
referred  to,  who  quotes  a  letter  from  the  relict  of  the 
humane  gentleman. 

In  the  year  1645,  a  commission  of  Parliament  was 
sent  down,  comprehending  two  clergymen  in  esteem 
with  the  leading  party,  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Fairclough 
of  Keller,  preached  before  the  rest  on  the  subject  of 
witchcraft ;  and  after  this  appearance  of  inquiry,  the 
inquisitions  and  executions  went  on  as  before.  But 
the  popular  indignation  was  so  strongly  excited 
against  Hopkins,  that  some  gentlemen  seized  on  him, 
and  put  him  to  his  own  favourite  experiment  of  swim¬ 
ming,  on  which,  as  he  happened  to  float,  he  stood 
convicted  of  witchcraft,  and  so  the  country  was  rid 
of  him.  Whether  he  was  drowned  outright  or  not. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT 


223 


does  not  exactly  appear,  but  he  has  had  the  honour 
to  be  commemorated  by  the  author  of  Hudibras : — 

“  Hath  not  this  present  parliament 
A  leiger  to  the  Devil  sent, 

Fully  empowered  to  treat  about 
Finding  revolted  witches  out  ? 

And  has  he  not  within  a  year 
Hang’d  threescore  of  them  in  one  shire? 

Some  only  for  not  being  drown’d 

And  some  forsitting  above  ground 

Whole  days  and  nights  upon  their  breeches, 

And  feeling  pain,  were  hang’d  for  witches. 

And  some  for  putting  knavish  tricks 
Upon  green  geese  or  turkey  chicks; 

Or  pigs  that  suddenly  deceased 
Of  griefs  unnatural,  as  he  guess’d, 

Who  proved  himself  at  length  a  witch. 

And  made  a  rod  for  his  own  breech.’’* 


The  understanding  reader  will  easily  conceive, 
that  this  alteration  of  the  current  in  favour  of  those 
who  disapproved  of  witch-prosecutions,  must  have 
received  encouragement  from  some  quarter  of  weight 
and  influence ;  yet  it  may  sound  strangely  enough, 
that  this  spirit  of  lenity  should  have  been  the  result 
of  the  peculiar  principles  of  those  sectarians  of  all 
denominations,  classed  in  general  as  Independents, 
who,  though  they  had  originally  courted  the  Presby¬ 
terians  as  the  more  numerous  and  prevailing  party, 
had  at  length  shaken  themselves  loose  of  that  con¬ 
nexion,  and  finally  combated  with  and  overcome 
them.  The  Independents  were  distinguished  by  the 
wildest  license  in  their  religious  tenets,  mixed  with 
much  that  was  nonsensical  and  mystical.  They  dis¬ 
owned  even  the  title  of  a  regular  clergy,  and  allowed 
the  preaching  of  any  one  who  could  draw  together 
a  congregation  that  would  support  him,  or  who 
was  willing,  without  recompense,  to  minister  to  the 
spiritual  necessities  of  his  hearers.  Although  such 
laxity  of  discipline  afforded  scope  to  the  wildest 
enthusiasm,  and  room  for  all  possible  varieties  of 


*  Hudibras,  part  ii.  canto  3 


224 


LETTERS  ON 


doctrine,  it  had  on  the  other  hand,  this  inestimable 
recommendation,  that  it  contributed  to  a  degree  of 
general  toleration  which  was  at  that  time  unknown 
to  any  other  Christian  establishment.  The  very 
genius  of  a  religion  which  admitted  of  the  subdivision 
of  sects  ad  infinitum ,  excluded  a  legal  prosecution  of 
any  one  of  these  for  heresy  or  apostacy.  If  there  had 
even  existed  a  sect  of  Manicheans,  who  made  it  their 
practice  to  adore  the  Evil  Principle,  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  other  sectaries  would  have 
accounted  them  absolute  outcasts  from  the  pale  of 
the  church;  and,  fortunately,  the  same  sentiment 
induced  them  to  regard  with  horror  the  prosecutions 
against  witchcraft.  Thus  the  Independents,  when 
under  Cromwell  they  attained  a  supremacy  over  the 
Presbyterians,  who  to  a  certain  point  had  been  their 
allies,  were  disposed  to  counteract  the  violence  of 
such  proceedings  under  pretence  of  witchcraft,  as  had 
been  driven  forward  by  the  wretched  Hopkins,  in 
Essex,  Norfolk,  and  Suffolk,  for  three  or  four  years 
previous  to  1647.  « 

The  return  of  Charles  II.  to  his  crown  and  king¬ 
dom,  served  in  some  measure  to  restrain  the  general 
and  wholesale  maimer  in  which  the  laws  against 
witchcraft  had  been  administered  during  the  warmth 
of  the  civil  war.  The  statute  of  the  1st  of  King 
James,  nevertheless,  yet  subsisted;  nor  is  it  in  the 
least  likely,  considering  the  character  of  the  prince, 
that  he,  to  save  the  lives  of  a  few  old  men  and  women, 
would  have  run  the  risk  of  incurring  the  odium  of 
encouraging  or  sparing  a  crime  still  held  in  horror 
by  a  great  part  of  his  subjects.  The  statute,  how¬ 
ever,  was  generally  administered  by  wise  and  skilful 
judges,  and  the  accused  had  such  a  chance  of  escape 
as  the  rigour  of  the  absurd  law  permitted. 

Nonsense,  it  is  too  obvious,  remained  in  some  cases 
predominant.  In  the  year  1663,  an  old  dame  named 
Julian  Coxe,  was  convicted  chiefly  on  the  evidence 
of  a  huntsman,  who  declared  on  his  oath,  that  he 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  225 


laid  his  greyhounds  on  a  hare,  and,  coming  up  to  the 
spot  where  he  saw  them  mouth  her,  there  he  found, 
on  the  other  side  of  a  bush,  Julian  Coxe  lying  pant¬ 
ing  and  breathless,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  convince 
him  that  she  had  been  the  creature  which  afforded 
him  the  course.  The  unhappy  woman  was  executed 
on  this  evidence. 

Two  years  afterward  (1664),  it  is  with  regret  we 
must  quote  the  venerable  and  devout  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  as  presiding  at  a  trial,  in  consequence  of  which 
Amy  Dunny  and  Rose  Callender  were  hanged  at  Saint 
Edmondsbury.  But  no  man,  unless  very  peculiarly 
circumstanced,  can  extricate  himself  from  the  preju- 
clices  of  his  nation  and  age.  The  evidence  against 
the  accused  was  laid,  1st,  on  the  effect  of  spells  used 
by  ignorant  persons  to  counteract  the  supposed  witch¬ 
craft  ;  the  use  of  which  was,  under  the  statute  of 
James  I.,  as  criminal  as  the  act  of  sorcery  which 
such  counter-charms  were  meant  to  neutralize.  2dly, 
The  two  old  women,  refused  even  the  privilege  of 
purchasing  some  herrings,  having  expressed  them¬ 
selves  with  angry  impatience,  a  child  of  the  herring- 
merchant  fell  ill  in  consequence.  3dly,  A  cart  was 
driven  against  the  miserable  cottage  of  Amy  Dunny. 
She  scolded,  of  course ;  and  shortly  after  the  cart — 
(what  a  good  driver  will  scarcely  comprehend) — 
stuck  fast  in  a  gate  where  its  wheels  touched  neither 
of  the  posts,  and  yet  was  moved  easily  forward  on 
one  of  the  posts  (by  which  it  was  not  impeded)  being 
cut  down.  4thly,  One  of  the  afflicted  girls,  being 
closely  muffled,  went  suddenly  into  a  fit  upon  being 
touched  by  one  of  the  supposed  witches.  But,  upon 
another  trial,  it  was  found  that  the  person  so  blind¬ 
folded  fell  into  the  same  rage  at  the  touch  of  an  unsus¬ 
pected  person.  What  perhaps  sealed  the  fate  of  the 
accused,  was  the  evidence  of  the  celebrated  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  “  that  the  fits  were  natural,  but 
heightened  by  the  power  of  the  Devil  co-operating 
with  the  malice  of  witches;” — a  n  range  opinion, 


22G 


LETTERS  ON 


certainly,  from  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  Vulgar 
Errors  !* 

But  the  torch  of  science  was  now  fairly  lighted, 
and  gleamed  in  more  than  one  kingdom  of  the  world, 
shooting  its  rays  on  every  side,  and  catching  at  all 
means  which  were  calculated  to  increase  the  illumi¬ 
nation.  The  Royal  Society,  which  had  taken  its 
rise  at  Oxford,  from  a  private  association,  who  met 
in  Dr.  Wilkin’s  chambers  about  the  year  1652,  was, 
the  year  after  the  Restoration,  incorporated  by  royal 
charter,  and  began  to  publish  their  Transactions,  and 
give  a  new  and  more  rational  character  to  the  pur¬ 
suits  of  philosophy. 

In  France,  where  the  mere  will  of  the  government 
could  accomplish  greater  changes,  the  consequence 
of  an  enlarged  spiri  of  scientific  discovery  was,  that 
a  decisive  stop  was  put  to  the  witch-prosecutions, 
which  had  heretofore  been  as  common  in  that  king¬ 
dom  as  in  England.  About  the  year  1672,  there  was 
a  general  arrest  of  very  many  shepherds,  and  others, 
in  Normandy,  and  the  Parliament  of  Rouen  prepared 
to  proceed  in  the  investigation  with  the  usual  severity. 
But  an  order,  or  arret,  from  the  king  (Louis  XIV.), 
with  advice  of  his  council,  commanding  all  these 
unfortunate  persons  to  be  set  at  liberty  and  protected, 
had  the  most  salutary  effects  all  over  the  kingdom. 
The  French  Academy  of  Sciences  was  also  founded; 
and,  in  imitation,  a  society  of  learned  Germans 
established  a  similar  institution  at  Leipsic.  Preju¬ 
dices,  however  old,  were  overawed  and  controlled — 
much  was  accounted  for  on  natural  principles  that 
had  hitherto  been  imputed  to  spiritual  agency — every 
thing  seemed  to  promise,  that  farther  access  to  the 
secrets  of  nature  might  be  opened  to  those  who 
should  prosecute  their  studies  experimentally  and  by 
analysis — and  the  mass  of  ancient  opinions  which 
overwhelmed  the  dark  subject  of  which  we  treat, 

*  See  the  account  of  Sir  T.  Browne,  in  “  Lives  of  British  Physj* 
elans,”  p.  60. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  227 

began  to  be  derided  and  rejected  by  men  of  sense  and 
education. 

In  many  cases  the  prey  was  now  snatched  from 
the  spoiler.  A  pragmatical  justice  of  peace  in 
Somersetshire,  commenced  a  course  of  inquiry  after 
offenders  against  the  statute  of  James  I.,  and  had  he 
been  allowed  to  proceed,  Mr.  Hunt  might  have  gained 
a  name  as  renowned  for  witch-finding  as  that  of  Mr 
Hopkins;  but  his  researches  were  stopped  from  higher 
authority — the  lives  of  the  poor  people  arrested 
(twelve  in  number)  were  saved,  and  the  country  re¬ 
mained  at  quiet,  though  the  supposed  witches  were 
suffered  to  live.  The  examinations  attest  some 
curious  particulars  which  may  be  found  in  Sadducis- 
mus  Triumphatus :  for,  among  the  usual  string  of 
fro  ward,  fanciful,  or,  as  they  were  called,  afflicted 
children,  brought  forward  to  club  their  startings, 
starings,  and  screamings,  there  appeared  also  certain 
remarkable  confessions  of  the  accused,  from  which 
we  learn  that  the  Somerset  Satan  enlisted  his  witches, 
like  a  wily  recruiting  sergeant,  with  one  shilling  in 
hand,  and  twelve  in  promises ;  that  when  the  party 
of  weird-sisters  passed  to  the  witch-meeting,  they 
used  the  magic  words,  Thout,  tout,  throughout,  and 
about;  and  that  when  they  departed,  they  exclaimed, 
Rentum,  Tormentum !  We  are  farther  informed,  that 
his  Infernal  Highness,  on  his  departure,  leaves  a 
smell,  and  that  (in  nursery-maid’s  phrase)  not  a  pretty 
one,  behind  him.  Concerning  this  fact  we  have  a 
curious  exposition  by  Mr.  Glanville :  “  This,”  accord¬ 
ing  to  that  respectable  authority,  “  seems  to  imply  the 
reality  of  the  business,  those  ascititious  particles  which 
he  held  together  in  his  sensible  shape  being  loosened 
at  his  vanishing,  and  so  offending  the  nostrils  by  their 
floating  and  diffusing  themselves  in  the  open  air.”* 
How  much  we  are  bound  to  regret,  that  Mr.  Justice 
Hunt’s  discovery  “  of  this  hellish  kind  of  witches,” 


*  Glanvilie’s  Collection  of  Relations. 


228 


LETTERS  ON 


in  itself  so  clear  and  plain,  and  containing  such  valu¬ 
able  information,  should  have  been  smothered  by 
meeting  with  opposition  and  discouragement  from 
some  then  in  authority ! 

Lord-Keeper  Guildford  was  also  a  stifler  of  the 
proceedings  against  witches.  Indeed,  we  may  gene¬ 
rally  remark,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  that  where  the  judges  were  men  of  educa¬ 
tion  and  courage,  sharing  in  the  information  of  the 
times,  they  were  careful  to  check  the  precipitate  ig¬ 
norance  and  prejudice  of  the  juries,  by  giving  them 
a  more  precise  idea  of  the  indifferent  value  of  con¬ 
fessions  by  the  accused  themselves,  and  of  testimony 
derived  from  the  pretended  visions  of  those  supposed 
to  be  bewitched.  Where,  on  the  contrary,  judges 
shared  with  the  vulgar  in  their  ideas  of  such  fasci¬ 
nation,  or  were  contented  to  leave  the  evidence  with 
the  jury,  fearful  to  withstand  the  general  cry  too 
common  on  such  occasions,  a  verdict  of  guilty  often 
followed. 

We  are  informed  by  Roger  North,  that  a  case  of 
this  kind  happened  at  the  assizes  in  Exeter,  where 
his  brother,  the  Lord  Chief-Justice,  did  not  interfere 
with  the  crown  trials,  and  the  other  judge  left  for 
execution  a  poor  old  woman,  condemned,  as  usual, 
on  her  own  confession,  and  on  the  testimony  of 
a  neighbour,  who  deponed  that  he  saw  a  cat  jump 
into  the  accused  person’s  cottage  window  at  twilight, 
one  evening,  and  that  he  verily  believed  the  said  cat 
to  be  the  Devil ;  on  which  precious  testimony  the 
poor  wretch  was  accordingly  hanged.  On  another 
occasion,  about  the  same  time,  the  passions  of  the 
great  and  little  vulgar  were  so  much  excited  by  the 
acquittal  of  an  aged  village  dame  whom  the  judge 
had  taken  some  pains  to  rescue,  that  Sir  John  Long, 
a  man  of  rank  and  fortune,  came  to  the  judge  in  the 
greatest  perplexity,  requesting  that  the  hag  might 
not  be  permitted  to  return  to  her  miserable  cottage 
on  his  estates,  since  all  his  tenants  had,  in  that  case. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  229 

threatened  to  leave  him.  In  compassion  to  a  gen¬ 
tleman  who  apprehended  ruin  from  a  cause  so  whim¬ 
sical,  the  dangerous  old  woman  was  appointed  to  be 
kept  by  the  town  where  she  was  acquitted,  at  the 
rate  of  half  a  crown  a-week  paid  by  the  parish  to 
which  she  belonged.  But,  behold!  in  the  period 
between  the  two  assizes,  Sir  John  Long  and  his 
farmers  had  mustered  courage  enough  to  petition 
that  this  Witch  should  be  sent  back  to  them  in  all 
her  terrors,  because  they  could  support  her  among 
them  at  a  shilling  a-week  cheaper  than  they  were 
obliged  to  pay  to  the  town  for  her  maintenance.  In 
a  subsequent  trial  before  Lord  Chief-Justice  North 
himself,  that  judge  detected  one  of  those  practices 
which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  were  too  common  at  the 
time,  when  witnesses  found  their  advantage  in  feign¬ 
ing  themselves  bewitched.  A  woman,  supposed  to 
be  the  Victim  of  the  male  sorcerer  at  the  bar,  vomited 
pins  in  quantities,  and  those  straight,  differing  from 
the  crooked  pins  usually  produced  at  such  times, 
and  less  easily  concealed  in  the  mouth.  The  judge, 
however,  discovered,  by  cross-examining  a  candid 
witness,  that  in  counterfeiting  her  fits  of  convulsion, 
the  woman  sunk  her  head  on  her  breast,  so  as  to 
take  up  with  her  lips  the  pins  which  she  had  placed 
ready  in  her  stomacher.  The  man  was  acquitted,  of 
course.  A  frightful  old  hag  who  was  present,  distin¬ 
guished  herself  so  much  by  her  benedictions  on  the 
judge,  that  he  asked  the  cause  of  the  peculiar  inte¬ 
rest  which  she  took  in  the  acquittal.  “  Twenty  years 
ago,”  said  the  poor  woman,  “  they  would  have  hanged 
me  for  a  witch,  but  could  not ;  and  now,  but  for  your 
lordship,  they  would  have  murdered  my  innocent 
son.”* 

Such  scenes  happened  frequently  on  the  assizes, 
while  country  gentlemen,  like  the  excellent  Sir  Roger 
de  Coverley,  retained  a  private  share  in  the  terror  with 

*  Roger  North’s  Life  of  Lord-Keeper  Guilford. 

u 


230 


LETTERS  ON 


which  their  tenants,  servants,  and  retainers  re¬ 
garded  some  old  Moll  White,  who  put  the  hounds 
at  fault,  and  ravaged  the  fields  with  hail  and  hurri¬ 
canes.  Sir  John  Reresby,  after  an  account  of  a  poor 
woman  tried  for  a  witch  at  York,  in  1686,  and  ac¬ 
quitted,  as  he  thought,  very  properly,  proceeds  to  tell 
us,  that,  notwithstanding,  the  sentinel  upon  the  jail 
where  she  was  confined,  avowed,  “  that  he  saw  a 
scroll  of  paper  creep  from  under  the  prison-door,  and 
then  change  itself  first  into  a  monkey,  and  then  into 
a  turkey,  which  the  under-keeper  confirmed.  This,” 
says  Sir  John,  “  I  have  heard  from  the  mouth  of  both, 
and  now  leave  it  to  be  believed,  or  disbelieved,  as 
the  reader  may  be  inclined.”*  We  may  see  that 
Reresby,  a  statesman  and  a  soldier,  had  not  as  yet 
“  plucked  the  old  woman  out  of  his  heart.”  Even 
Addison  himself  ventured  no  farther  in  his  incre¬ 
dulity  respecting  this  crime,  than  to  contend,  that 
although  witchcraft  might  and  did  exist,  there  was 
no  such  tiling  ab  a  modem  instance  competently 
proved. 

As  late  as  1682,  three  unhappy  women,  named 
Susan  Edwards,  Mary  Trembles,  and  Temperance 
Lloyd,  were  hanged  at  Exeter  for  witchcraft,  and,  as 
usual,  on  their  own  confession.  This  is  believed  to 
be  the  last  execution  of  the  kind  in  England,  under 
form  of  judicial  sentence.  But  the  ancient  supersti¬ 
tion,  so  interesting  to  vulgar  credulity,  like  sediment 
clearing  itself  from  water,  sunk  down  in  a  deepei 
shade  upon  the  ignorant  and  lowest  class  of  society 
in  proportion  as  the  higher  regions  were  purified  from 
its  influence.  The  populace,  including  the  ignorant 
of  every  class,  were  more  enraged  against  witches, 
when  their  passions  were  once  excited,  in  proportion 
to  the  lenity  exercised  towards  the  objects  of  their 
indignation  by  those  who  administered  the  laws. 
Several  cases  occurred  in  which  the  mob,  impressed 


*  Memoir#  of  Sir  John  Reresby,  p.  237. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  231 


with  a  conviction  of  the  guilt  of  some  destitute  old 
creatures,  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and, 
proceeding  upon  such  evidence  as  Hopkins  would 
have  had  recourse  to,  at  once,  in  their  own  apprehen¬ 
sion,  ascertained  their  criminality,  and  administered 
the  deserved  punishment. 

The  following  instance  of  such  illegal  and  inhu¬ 
man  proceedings  occurred  at  -Oakly,  near  Bedford, 
on  the  12th  July,  1707.  There  was  one  woman,  up¬ 
wards  of  60  years  of  age,  who,  being  under  an  impu¬ 
tation  of  witchcraft,  was  desirous  to  escape  from  so 
foul  a  suspicion,  and  to  conciliate  the  good-will  of 
her  neighbours,  by  allowing  them  to  duck  her.  The 
parish  officers  so  far  consented  to  their  humane  expe¬ 
riment  as  to  promise  the  poor  woman  a  guinea  if  she 
should  clear  herself  by  sinking.  The  unfortunate 
object  was  tied  up  in  a  wet  sheet,  her  thumbs  and 
great  toes  were  bound  together,  her  cap  torn  off,  and 
all  her  apparel  searched  for  pins ;  for  there  is  an  idea 
that  a  single  pin  spoils  the  operation  of  the  charm. 
She  was  then  dragged  through  the  river  Ouse  by  a 
rope  tied  round  her  middle.  Unhappily  for  the  poor 
woman,  her  body  floated,  though  her  head  remained 
under  water.  The  experiment  was  made  three  times 
with  the  same  effect.  The  cry  to  hang  or  drown  the 
witch  then  became  general ;  and  as  she  lay  half  dead 
on  the  bank,  they  loaded  the  wretch  with  reproaches, 
and  hardly  forbore  blows.  A  single  humane  by¬ 
stander  took  her  part,  and  exposed  himself  to  rough 
usage  for  doing  so.  Luckily,  one  of  the  mob  them¬ 
selves  at  length  suggested  the  additional  experiment 
of  weighing  the  witch  against  the  Church  Bible. 
The  friend  of  humanity  caught  at  this  means  of  es¬ 
cape,  supporting  the  proposal  by  the  staggering  argu¬ 
ment,  that  the  Scripture,  being  the  work  of  God  him¬ 
self,  must  outweigh  necessarily  all  the  operations  or 
vassals  of  the  Devil.  The  reasoning  was  received 
as  conclusive,  the  more  readily  as  it  promised  a  new 
species  of  amusement.  The  woman  was  then 


232 


LETTERS  ON 


weighed  against  a  Church  Bible  of  twelve  pounds 
jockey  weight,  and  as  she  was  considerably  prepon¬ 
derant,  was  dismissed  with  honour.  But  many  of  the 
mob  counted  her  acquittal  irregular,  and  would  have 
had  the  poor  dame  drowned  or  hanged  on  the  re¬ 
sult.  of  her  ducking,  as  the  more  authentic  species 
of  trial. 

At  length,  a  similar  piece  of  inhumanity,  which 
had  a  very  different  conclusion,  led  to  the  final  aboli¬ 
tion  of  the  statute  of  James  I,,  as  affording  counte¬ 
nance  for  such  brutal  proceedings.  An  aged  pauper, 
named  Osborne,  and  his  wife,  who  resided  near 
Tring,  in  Staffordshire,  fell  under  the  suspicion  of 
the  mob  on  account  of  supposed  witchcraft.  The 
overseers  of  the  poor,  understanding  that  the  rabble 
entertained  a  purpose  of  swimming  these  infirm 
creatures,  which  indeed  they  had  expressed  in  a  sort 
of  proclamation,  endeavoured  to  oppose  their  purpose 
by  securing  the  unhappy  couple  in  the  vestry-room, 
which  they  barricaded.  They  were  unable,  however, 
to  protect  them  in  the  manner  they  intended.  The 
mob  forced  the  door,  seized  the  accused,  and  with 
ineffable  brutality  continued  dragging  the  wretches 
through  a  pool  of  water  till  the  woman  lost  her  life. 
A  brute  in  human  form,  who  had  superintended  the 
murder,  went  among  the  spectators,  and  requested 
money  for  the  sport  he  had  shown  them !  The  life 
of  the  other  victim  was  with  great  difficulty  saved. 
Three  men  were  tried  for  their  share  in  this  inhuman 
action.  Only  one  of  them,  named  Colley,  was  con¬ 
demned  and  hanged.  When  he  came  to  execu¬ 
tion,  the  rabble,  instead  of  crowding  round  the  gal¬ 
lows  as  usual,  stood  at  a  distance,  and  abused  those 
who  were  putting  to  death,  they  said,  an  honest  fel¬ 
low  for  ridding  the  parish  of  an  accursed  witch. 
This  abominable  murder  was  committed  30th  July, 
1751. 

The  repetition  of  such  horrors,  the  proneness  of 
the  people  to  so  cruel  and  heart-searing  a  supers ti- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  233 

tion,  was  traced  by  the  legislature  to  its  source, 
namely,  the  yet  unabolished  statute  of  James  I.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  by  the  9th  George  II.  cap.  5,  that  odious 
law,  so  long  the  object  of  horror  to  all  ancient  and 
poverty-stricken  females  in  the  kingdom,  was  abro¬ 
gated,  and  all  criminal  procedure  on  the  subject  of 
sorcery  or  witchcraft  discharged  in  future  throughout 
Great  Britain ;  reserving  for  such  as  should  pretend 
to  the  skill  of  fortune-tellers,  discoverers  of  stolen 
goods,  or  the  like,  the  punishment  of  the  correction 
house,  as  due  to  rogues  and  vagabonds.  Since  that 
period,  witchcraft  has  been  little  heard  of  in  Eng¬ 
land,  and  although  the  belief  in  its  existence  has,  in 
remote  places,  survived  the  law  that  recognised  the 
evidence  of  the  crime,  and  assigned  its  punishment 
— yet  such  faith  is  gradually  becoming  forgotten 
since  the  rabble  have  been  deprived  of  all  pretext  to 
awaken  it  by  their  own  riotous  proceedings.  Some 
rare  instances  have  occurred  of  attempts  similar  to 
that  for  which  Colley  suffered :  and  I  observe  one  is 
preserved  in  that  curious  register  of  knowledge,  Mr. 
Hone’s  Popular  Amusements,  from  which  it  ap¬ 
pears,  that  as  late  as  the  end  of  last  century  this  bru¬ 
tality  was  practised,  though  happily  without  loss  of 
life. 

The  Irish  statute  against  witchcraft  still  exists,  as 
it  would  seem.  Nothing  occurred  in  that  kingdom 
which  recommended  its  being  formally  annulled; 
'  but  it  is  considered  as  obsolete,  and  should  so  wild 
a  thing  be  attempted  in  the  present  day,  no  proce¬ 
dure,  it  is  certain,  would  now  be  permitted  to  ho 
upon  it. 

If  any  thing  were  wanted  to  confirm  the  general 
proposition,  that  the  epidemic  terror  of  witchcraft 
increases  and  becomes  general  in  proportion  to  the 
increase  of  prosecutions  against  witches,  it  would  be 
sufficient  to  quote  certain  extraordinary  occurrences 
in  New-England.  Only  a  brief  account  can  be  here 
given  of  the  dreadful  hallucination  under  which  the 

U  2 


234 


LETTERS  ON 


colonists  of  that  province  were  for  a  time  deluded 
and  oppressed  by  a  strange  contagious  terror,  ana 
how  suddenly  and  singularly  it  was  cured,  even  by 
its  own  excess  ;  but  it  is  too  strong  evidence  of  the 
imaginary  character  of  this  hideous  disorder,  to  be 
altogether  suppressed. 

New-England,  as  is  well  known,  was  peopled 
mainly  by  emigrants  who  had  been  disgusted  with 
the  government  of  Charles  I.  in  church  and  state, 
previous  to  the  great  Civil  War.  Many  of  the  more 
wealthy  settlers  were  Presbyterians  and  Calvinists  ; 
others,  fewer  in  number,  and  less  influential  from 
their  fortune,  were  Quakers,  Anabaptists,  or  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  other  sects,  who  were  included  under 
the  general  name  of  Independents.  The  Calvin¬ 
ists  brought  with  them  the  same  zeal  for  religion 
and  strict  morality  which  every  where  distinguished 
them.  Unfortunately,  they  were  not  wise  according 
to  their  zeal,  but  entertained  a  proneness  to  believe 
in  supernatural  and  direct  personal  intercourse  be¬ 
tween  the  Devil  and  his  vassals — an  error  to  which,  as 
we  have  endeavoured  to  show,  their  brethren  in  Eu¬ 
rope  had,  from  the  beginning,  been  peculiarly  sub¬ 
ject,  In  a  country  imperfectly  cultivated,  and  where 
the  partially  improved  spots  were  imbosomed  in  in¬ 
accessible  forests,  inhabited  by  numerous  tribes  of 
savages,  it  was  natural  that  a  disposition  to  supersti¬ 
tion  should  rather  gain  than  lose  ground,  and  that  to 
other  dangers  and  horrors  with  which  they  were  sur- 
■ounded,  the  colonists  should  have  added  fears  of 
the  Devil,  not  merely  as  the  Evil  Principle  tempting 
human  nature  to  sin,  and  thus  endangering  our  sal¬ 
vation,  but  as  combined  with  sorcerers  and  witches 
to  inflict  death  and  torture  upon  children  and  others. 

The  first  case  which  I  observe,  was  that  of  four 
children  of  a  person  called  John  Goodwin,  a  mason. 
The  eldest,  a  girl,  had  quarrelled  with  the  laundress 
of  the  family  about  some  linen  which  was  missing. 
The  mother  of  the  laundress,  an  ignorant,  testy,  and 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


235 


choleric  old  Irishwoman,  scolded  the  accuser ;  and 
shortly  after,  the  elder  Goodwin,  her  sister,  and  two 
brothers  were  seized  with  such  strange  diseases,  that 
all  their  neighbours  concluded  they  were  bewitched. 
They  conducted  themselves  as  those  supposed  to 
suffer  under  maladies  created  by  such  influence  were 
accustomed  to  do.  They  stiffened  their  necks  so 
hard  at  one  time  that  the  joints  could  not  be  moved 
at  another  time  their  necks  were  so  flexible  and 
supple,  that  it  seemed  the  bone  was  dissolved.  They 
had  violent  convulsions,  in  which  their  jaws  snapped 
with  the  force  of  a  spring-trap  set  for  vermin.  Their 
limbs  were  curiously  contorted,  and  to  those  who 
had  a  taste  for  the  marvellous,  seemed  entirely  dis¬ 
located  and  displaced.  Amid  these  distortions,  they 
cried  out  against  the  poor  old  woman,  whose  name 
was  Glover,  alleging  that  she  was  in  presence  with 
them,  adding  to  their  torments.  The  miserable  Irish¬ 
woman,  who  hardly  could  speak  the  English  lan¬ 
guage,  repeated  her  Pater  Noster  and  Ave  Maria 
like  a  good  Catholic;  but  there  were  some  words 
which  she  had  forgotten.  She  was  therefore  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  unable  to  pronounce  the  whole  consis¬ 
tently  and  correctly — and  condemned  and  executed 
accordingly. 

But  the  children  of  Goodwin  found  the  trade  they 
were  engaged  in  to  be  too  profitable  to  be  laid  aside, 
and  the  eldest,  in  particular,  continued  all  the  external 
signs  of  witchcraft  and  possession.  Some  of  these 
were  excellently  calculated  to  flatter  the  self-opinion 
and  prejudices  of  the  Calvinist  ministers,  by  whom 
she  was  attended,  and  accordingly  bear  in  their  very 
front  the  character  of  studied  and  voluntary  impos¬ 
ture.  The  young  woman,  acting,  as  was  supposed, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Devil,  read  a  Quaker  trea¬ 
tise  with  ease  and  apparent  satisfaction but  a  book 
written  against  the  poor  inoffensive  Friends,  the 
Devil  would  not  allow  his  victim  to  touch.  She 


236 


LETTERS  ON 


could  look  on  a  Church  of  England  Prayer-book,  and 
read  the  portions  of  Scripture  which  it  contains, 
without  difficulty  or  impediment; — but  the  spirit 
which  possessed  her  threw  her  into  fits  if  she  at¬ 
tempted  to  read  the  same  Scriptures  from  the  Bible, 
as  if  the  awe  which  it  is  supposed  the  fiends  enter¬ 
tain  for  Holy  Writ,  depended, jnot  on  the  meaning  of 
the  words,  but  the  arrangement  of  the  page,  and  the 
type  in  which  they  were  printed.  This  singular 
species  of  flattery  was  designed  to  captivate  the  cler¬ 
gyman  through  his  professional  opinions ; — others 
were  more  strictly  personal.  The  afflicted  damsel 
seems  to  have  been  somewhat  of  the  humour  of  the 
Inamorato  of  Messrs.  Smack,  Pluck,  Catch,  and 
Company,  and  had,  like  her,  merry  as  well  as  melan¬ 
choly  fits.  She  often  imagined  that  her  attendant 
spirits  brought  her  a  handsome  pony  to  ride  off  with 
them  to  their  rendezvous.  On  such  occasions  she 
made  a  spring  upwards,  as  if  to  mount  her  horse, 
and  then,  still  seated  on  her  chair,  mimicked  with 
dexterity  and  agility  the  motions  of  the  animal 
pacing,  trotting,  and  galloping,  like  a  child  on  the 
nurse’s  knee ;  but  when  she  cantered  in  this  manner 
up  stairs,  she  affected  inability  to  enter  the  clergy¬ 
man’s  study,  and  when  she  was  pulled  into  it  by 
force,  used  to  become  quite  well,  and  stand  up  as 
a  rational  being.  “Reasons  were  given  for  this,” 
says  the  simple  minister,  “  that  seem  more  kind  than 
true.”  Shortly  after  this,  she  appears  to  have  treated 
the  poor  divine  with  a  species  of  sweetness  and 
attention,  which  gave  him  greater  embarrassment 
than  her  former  violence.  She  used  to  break  in  upon 
him  at  his  studies  to  importune  him  to  come  down 
stairs,  and  thus  advantaged  doubtless  the  kingdom 
of  Satan  by  the  interruption  of  his  pursuits.  At 
length,  the  Goodwins  were,  or  appeared  to  be,  cured. 
But  the  example  had  been  given  and  caught,  and  the 
blood  of  poor  Dame  Glover,  which  had  been  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


237 


introduction  to  this  tale  of  a  hobby-horse,  was  to  be 
the  forerunner  of  new  atrocities,  and  fearfully  more 
general  follies. 

This  scene  opened  by  the  illness  of  two  girls,  a 
daughter  and  niece  of  Mr.  Parvis,  the  minister  of 
Salem,  who  fell  under  an  affliction  similar  to  that  of 
the  Goodwins.  Their  mouths  were  stopped,  their 
throats  choked,  their  limbs  racked,  thorns  were 
stuck  into  their  flesh,  and  pins  were  ejected  from 
their  stomachs.  An  Indian  and  his  wife,  servants 
of  the  family,  endeavouring,  by  some  spell  of  their 
own,  to  discover  by  whom  the  fatal  charm  had  been 
imposed  on  their  master’s  children,  drew  themselves 
under  suspicion,  and  were  hanged.  The  judges  and 
juries  persevered,  encouraged  by  the  discovery  of 
these  poor  Indians’  guilt,  and  hoping  they  might 
thus  expel  from  the  colony  the  authors  of  such  prac¬ 
tices.  They  acted,  says  Mather,  the  historian,  under 
a  conscientious  wish  to  do  justly;  but  the  cases  of 
witchcraft  and  possession  increased  as  if  they  were 
transmitted  by  contagion,  and  the  same  sort  of  spec¬ 
tral  evidence  being  received  which  had  occasioned 
the  condemnation  of  the  Indian  woman  Titu,  became 
generally  fatal.  The  afflicted  persons  failed  not  to 
see  the  spectres,  as  they  were  termed,  of  the  persons 
by  whom  they  were  tormented.  Against  this  species 
of  evidence  no  alibi  could  be  offered,  because  it  was 
admitted,  as  we  have  said  elsewhere,  that  the  real 
persons  of  the  accused  were  not  there  present ;  and 
every  thing  rested  upon  the  assumption  that  the 
afflicted  persons  were  telling  the  truth,  since  their 
evidence  could  not  be  redargued.  These  spectres 
were  generally  represented  as  offering  their  victims 
a  book,  on  signing  which  they  would  be  freed  from 
their  tonnents.  Sometimes  the  Devil  appeared  in 
person,  and  added  his  own  eloquence  to  move  the 
afflicted  persons  to  consent. 

At  first,  as  seems  natural  enough,  the  poor  and 
miserable  alone  were  involved ;  but  presently,  when 


238 


LETTERS  ON 


such  evidence  was  admitted  as  incontrovertible,  the 
afflicted  began  to  see  the  spectral  appearances  of 
persons  of  higher  condition,  and  of  irreproachable 
lives,  some  of  whom  were  arrested,  some  made  their 
escape,  while  several  were  executed.  The  more 
that  suffered,  the  greater  became  the  number  of 
afflicted  persons,  and  the  wider  and  the  more  nu¬ 
merous  were  the  denunciations  against  supposed 
witches.  The  accused  were  of  all  ages.  A  child 
of  five  years  old  was  endicted  by  some  of  the  af¬ 
flicted,  who  imagined  they  saw  this  juvenile  wizard 
active  in  tormenting  them,  and  appealed  to  the  mark 
of  little  teeth  on  their  bodies,  where  they  stated  it 
had  bitten  them.  A  poor  dog  was  also  hanged,  as 
having  been  alleged  to  be  busy  in  this  infernal  per¬ 
secution.  These  gross  insults  on  common  reason 
occasioned  a  revulsion  in  public  feeling,  but  not  till 
many  lives  had  been  sacrificed.  By  this  means 
nineteen  men  and  women  were  executed,  besides  a 
stout-hearted  man,  named  Cory,  who  refused  to  plead, 
and  was  accordingly  pressed  to  death,  according  to 
the  old  law.  On  this  horrible  occasion,  a  circumstance 
took  place  disgusting  to  humanity,  which  must  yet  be 
told,  to  show  how  superstition  can  steel  the  heart  of  a 
man  against  the  misery  of  his  fellow-creature.  The 
dying  man,  in  the  mortal  agony,  thrust  out  his  tongue, 
which  the  Sheriff  crammed  with  his  cane  back  again 
into  his  mouth.  Eight  persons  were  condemned, 
besides  those  who  had  actually  suffered ;  and  no  less 
than  two  hundred  were  in  prison  and  under  exami¬ 
nation. 

Men  began  then  to  ask,  whether  the  Devil  might 
not  artfully  deceive  the  afflicted  into  the  accusation 
of  good  and  innocent  persons,  by  presenting  witches 
and  fiends  in  the  resemblance  of  blameless  persons, 
as  engaged  in  the  tormenting  of  their  diseased  coun¬ 
tryfolk.  This  argument  was  by  no  means  incon¬ 
sistent  with  the  belief  in  witchcraft,  and  was  the 
more  readily  listened  to  on  that  account.  Besides, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  239 

men  found  that  no  rank  or  condition  could  save 
them  from  the  danger  of  this  horrible  accusation,  if 
they  continued  to  encourage  the  witnesses  in  such 
an  unlimited  course  as  had  hitherto  been  granted  to 
them.  Influenced  by  these  reflections,  the  settlers 
awoke  as  from  a  dream,  and  the  voice  of  the  public, 
which  had  so  lately  demanded  vengeance  on  all  who 
were  suspected  of  sorcery,  began  now,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  lament  the  effusion  of  blood,  under  the 
strong  suspicion  that  part  of  it  at  least  had  been  in¬ 
nocently  and  unjustly  sacrificed.  In  Mather’s  own 
language,  which  we  use  as  that  of  a  man  deeply 
convinced  of  the  reality  of  the  crime,  “  experience 
showed  that  the  more  were  apprehended,  the  more 
were  still  afflicted  by  Satan,  and  the  number  of  con¬ 
fessions  increasing,  did  but  increase  the  number  of 
the  accused,  and  the  execution  of  some  made  way 
to  the  apprehension  of  others.  For  still  the  afflicted 
complained  of  being  tormented  by  new  objects,  as 
the  former  were  removed,  so  that  some  of  those  that 
were  concerned  grew  amazed  at  the  number  and 
condition  of  those  that  were  accused,  and  feared 
that  Satan,  by  his  wiles,  had  inwrapped  innocent 
persons  under  the  imputation  of  that  crime ;  and  at 
last,  as  was  evidently  seen,  there  must  be  a  stop 
put,  or  the  generation  of  the  kingdom  of  God  would 
fall  under  condemnation.”* 

The  prosecutions  were,  therefore,  suddenly 
stopped,  the  prisoners  dismissed,  the  condemned  par 
doned,  and  even  those  who  had  confessed,  the  num 
ber  of  whom  was  very  extraordinary,  were  pardoned 
among  others ;  and  the  author  we  have  just  quoted 
thus  records  the  result: — “When  this  prosecution 


*  Mather’s  Magnalia,  book  vi.  chap,  lxxxii.  The  zealous  author, 
however,  regrets  the  general  jail-delivery  on  the  score  of  sorcery,  and 
thinks,  had  the  times  been  calm,  the  case  might  have  required  a  farther 
investigation,  and  that,  ou  the  whole,  the  matter  was  ended  too  abruptly. 
But,  the  temper  of  the  times  considered,  he  admits  candidly,  that  it  is 
better  to  act  moderately  in  matters  capital,  and  to  iet  th?  guilty  escape, 
than  run  the  risk  of  destroying  the  innocent. 


240 


LETTERS  ON 


ceased,  the  Lord"  so  chained  up  Satan,  that  tne  af¬ 
flicted  grew  presently  well.  The  accused  were 
generally  quiet,  and  for  five  years  there  was  no  such 
molestation  among  us.” 

To  this  it  must  be  added,  that  the  congregation 
of  Salem  compelled  Mr.  Parvis,  in  whose  family  the 
disturbance  had  begun,  and  who,  they  alleged,  was 
the  person  by  whom  it  was  most  fiercely  driven 
on  in  the  commencement,  to  leave  his  settlement 
among  them.  Such  of  the  accused  as  had  confessed 
the  acts  of  witchcraft  imputed  to  them,  generally 
denied  and  retracted  their  confessions,  asserting 
them  to  have  been  made  under  fear  of  torture,  in¬ 
fluence  of  persuasion,  or  other  circumstances  exclu¬ 
sive  of  their  free  will.  Several  of  the  judges  and 
jurors  concerned  in  the  sentence  of  those  who  were 
executed,  published  their  penitence  for  their  rash 
ness  in  convicting  these  unfortunate  persons;  and 
one  of  the  judges,  a  man  of  the  most  importance  in 
the  colony,  observed,  during  the  rest  of  his  life,  the 
anniversary  of  the  first  execution  as  a  day  of  solemn 
fast  and  humiliation  for  his  own  share  in  the  trans¬ 
action.  Even  the  barbarous  Indians  were  struck 
with  wonder  at  the  infatuation  of  the  English  colo¬ 
nists  on  this  occasion,  and  drew  disadvantageous 
comparisons  between  them  and  the  French,  among 
whom,  as  they  remarked,  “the  Great  Spirit  sends 
no  witches.” 

The  system  of  witchcraft,  as  believed  in  Scotland, 
must  next  claim  our  attention,  as  it  is  different  in 
some  respects  from  that  of  England,  and  subsisted 
to  a  later  period,  and  was  prosecuted  with  much 
more  severity. 


LOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT 


241 


LETTER  IX. 

Scottish  Trials— Earl  of  Mar— Lady  Glammls — William  Barton— 
Wittlies  of  Auldeame — Their  Rites  and  Charms — Their  Transforma¬ 
tion  into  Hares — Satan’s  Severity  towards  them— Their  Crimes— Sir 
George  Mackenzie’s  Opinion  of  Witchcraft — Instances  of  Confessions 
made  by  the  Accused,  in  Despair,  and  to  avoid  future  Annoyance  and 
Persecution — Examination  by  Pricking — The  Mode  of  judicial  Proce¬ 
dure  against  Witches,  and  Nature  of  the  Evidence  admissible,  opened 
a  Door  to  Accusers,  and  left  the  Accused  no  Chance  of  Escape— The 
Superstition  of  the  Scottish  Clergy  in  King  James  VI.’s  Time  led 
them,  like  their  Sovereign,  to  encourage  Witch-Prosecutions — Case 
of  Bessie  Graham— Supposed  Conspiracy  to  Shipwreck  James  in  his 
Voyage  to  Denmark — Meetings  of  the  Witches,  and  Rites  performed 
to  accomplish  their  Purpose — Trial  of  Margaret  Barclay  in  1618 — Case 
of  Major  Weir — Sir  John  Clerk  among  the  first  who  declined  acting 
as  Commissioner  on  the  Trial  of  a  Witch — Paisley  and  Pittenweem 
Witches — A  Prosecution  in  Caithness  prevented  by  the  Interference 
of  the  King’s  Advocate  in  1718 — The  last  Sentence  of  Death  for 
Witchcraft  pronounced  in  Scotland  in  1722 — Remains  of  the  Witch 
Superstition—  Case  of  supposed  Witchcraft,  related  from  the  Author’s 
own  Knowledge,  which  took  place  so  late  as  1800. 

For  many  years  the  Scottish  nation  had  been  re¬ 
markable  for  a  credulous  belief  in  witchcraft,  and 
repeated  examples  were  supplied  by  the  annals  of 
sanguinary  executions  on  this  sad  accusation.  Our 
acquaintance  with  the  slender  foundation  on  which 
Boetius  and  Buchanan  reared  the  early  part  of  their 
histories,  may  greatly  incline  us  to  doubt  whether  a 
king  named  Duffus  ever  reigned  in  Scotland,  and 
still  more  whether  he  died  by  the  agency  of  a  gang 
of  witches,  who  inflicted  torments  upon  an  image 
made  in  his  name,  for  the  sake  of  compassing  his 
death.  In  the  tale  of  Macbeth,  which  is  another 
early  instance  of  Demonology  in  Scottish  history, 
the  weird-sisters,  who  were  the  original  prophet¬ 
esses,  appeared  to  the  usurper  in  a  dream,  and  are 
described  as  voice,  or  sibyls,  rather  than  as  witches, 
though  Shakspeare  has  stamped  the  latter  character 
indelibly  upon  them. 


X 


242 


LETTERS  ON 


One  of  the  earliest  real  cases  of  importance 
founded  upon  witchcraft,  was,  like  those  of  the 
Ducthess  of  Gloucester,  and  others  in  the  sister 
country,  mingled  with  an  accusation  of  a  political 
nature,  which,  rather  than  the  sorcery,  brought  the 
culprits  to  their  fate.  The  Earl  of  Mar,  brother  of 
James  III.  of  Scotland,  fell  under  the  king’s  suspi¬ 
cion,  for  consulting  with  witches  and  sorcerers  how 
to  shorten  the  king’s  days.  On  such  a  charge,  very 
inexplicitly  stated,  the  unhappy  Mar  was  bled  to 
death  in  his  own  lodgings,  without  either  trial  or 
conviction  ;  immediately  after  which  catastrophe, 
twelve  women  of  obscure  rank,  and  three  or  four 
wizards,  or  warlocks  as  they  wrere  termed,  were 
burned  at  Edinburgh,  to  give  a  colour  to  the  Earl’s 
guilt. 

In  the  year  1537,  a  noble  matron  fell  a  victim  to  a 
similar  charge.  This  was  Janet  Douglas,  Lady 
Glammis,  who,  with  her  son,  her  second  husband, 
and  several  others,  stood  accused  of  attempting 
James’s  life  by  poison,  with  a  view  to  the  restoration 
of  the  Douglas  family,  of  which  Lady  Glammis’s 
brother,  the  Earl  of  Angus,  was  the  head.  She  died 
much  pitied  by  the  people,  who  seem  to  have 
thought  the  articles  against  her  forged  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  taking  her  life ;  her  kindred,  and  very  name, 
being  so  obnoxious  to  the  king. 

Previous  to  this  lady’s  execution  there  would 
appear  to  have  been  but  few  prosecuted  to  death  on 
the  score  of  witchcraft,  although  the  want  of  the 
justiciary  records  of  that  period  leaves  us  in  uncer¬ 
tainty.  But  in  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  sixteenth  centuries,  when  such  charges 
grew  general  over  Europe,  cases  of  the  kind  occurred 
very  often  in  Scotland,  and,  as  we  have  already 
noticed,  were  sometimes  of  a  peculiar  character. 
There  is,  indeed,  a  certain  monotony  in  most  tales 
of  the  kind.  The  vassals  are  usually  induced  to 
sell  themselves  at  a  small  price  to  the  Author  of  Ill, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  243 

who,  having  commonly  to  do  with  women,  drives  a 
very  hard  bargain.  On  the  contrary,  when  he  was 
pleased  to  enact  the  female  on  a  similar  occasion, 
he  brought  his  gallant,  one  William  Barton,  a  fortune 
of  no  less  than  fifteen  pounds  ;  which,  even  suppos¬ 
ing  it  to  have  been  the  Scottish  denomination  of  coin, 
was  a  veiy  liberal  endowment,  compared  with  his 
niggardly  conduct  towards  the  fair  sex  on  such  an 
occasion.  Neither  did  he  pass  false  coin  on  this 
occasion,  but,  on  the  contrary,  generously  gave  Bar¬ 
ton  a  merk,  to  keep  the  fifteen  pounds  whole.  In 
observing  on  Satan’s  conduct  in  this  matter,  Master 
George  Sinclair  observes,  that  it  is  fortunate  the 
Enemy  is  but  seldom  permitted  to  bribe  so  high  (as 
£15  Scots),  for  were  this  the  case,  he  might  find 
few  men  or  women  capable  of  resisting  his  munifi¬ 
cence.  I  look  upon  this  as  one  of  the  most  severe 
reflections  on  our  forefathers’  poverty  which  is 
extant. 

In  many  of  the  Scottish  witches’  trials,  as  to  the 
description  of  Satan’s  Domdaniel,  and  the  Sabbath 
which  he  there  celebrates,  the  northern  superstition 
agrees  with  that  of  England.  But  some  of  the  con¬ 
fessions  depart  from  the  monotony  of  repetition,  and 
add  some  more  fanciful  circumstances  than  occur  in 
the  general  case.  Isobel  Gowdie’s  confession,  al¬ 
ready  mentioned,  is  extremely  minute,  and  some  part 
of  it  at  least  may  be  quoted,  as  there  are  other  pas¬ 
sages  not  very  edifying.  The  watches  of  Auldearne, 
according  to  this  penitent,  were  so  numerous,  that 
they  were  told  off  into  squads,  or  covines ,  as  they 
were  termed,  to  each  of  which  were  appointed  two 
officers.  One  of  these  was  called  the  Maiden  of 
the  Covine,  and  was  usually,  like  Tam  O’Shanter’s 
Nannie,  a  girl  of  personal  attractions,  whom  Satan 
placed  beside  himself,  and  treated  with  a  particular 
attention,  which  greatly  provoked  the  spite  of  the 
old  hags,  who  felt  themselves  insulted  by  the  pre- 


244 


LETTERS  ON 


ferenee.*  When  assembled,  they  dug  up  graves, 
and  possessed  themselves  of  the  carcasses  (of  un¬ 
christened  infants  in  particular),  whose  joints  and 
members  they  used  in  their  magic  unguents  and 
salves.  When  they  desired  to  secure  for  their  own 
use  the  crop  of  some  neighbour,  they  made  a  pre¬ 
tence  of  ploughing  it  with  a  yoke  of  paddocks. 
These  foul  creatures  drew  the  plough,  which  was 
held  by  the  Devil  himself.  The  plough  harness  and 
soams  were  made  of  quicken  grass,  the  sock  and 
coulter  were  made  out  of  a  riglen’s  horn,  and  the 
covine  attended  on  the  operation,  praying  the  Devil 
to  transfer  to  them  the  fruit  of  the  ground  so  tra¬ 
versed,  and  leave  the  proprietors  nothing  but  thistles 
and  briers.  The. witches’  sports,  with  their  elfin 
archery,  I  have  already  noticed  (page  143).  They 
entered  the  house  of  the  Earl  of  Murray  himself,  and 
such  other  mansions  as  were  not  fenced  against 
them  by  vigil  and  prayer,  and  feasted  on  the  provi¬ 
sions  they  found  there. 

As  these  witches  were  the  countrywomen  of  the 
weird  sisters  in  Macbeth,  the  reader  may  be  desirous 
to  hear  some  of  their  spells,  and  of  the  poetry  by 
which  they  were  accompanied  and  enforced.  They 
used  to  hash  the  flesh  of  an  unchristened  child, 
mixed  with  that  of  dogs  and  sheep,  and  place  it  in 
the  house  of  those  whom  they  devoted  to  destruction 
in  body  or  goods,  saying,  or  singing, — 

“  We  put  this  intill  this  hame, 

In  our  Lord  the  Devil’s  name ; 

The  first  hands  that  handle  thee, 

Burn’dand  scalded  may  they  be! 


*  This  word  Covine  seems  to  signify  a  subdivision,  or  squad.  The 
tree  near  the  front  of  an  ancient  castle  was  called  the  Covine  tree ,  pro¬ 
bably  because  the  Lord  received  his  company  there. 

“  He  is  Lord  of  the  hunting  horn, 

And  King  of  the  Co  vine  tree ; 

He 's  well  loo’d  in  the  western  waters, 

But  best  of  his  ain  minnie.” 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


245 


We  will  destroy  houses  and  hald, 

With  the  sheep  and  nolt  into  the  fauld  ; 

And  little  sail  come  to  the  fore, 

Of  all  the  rest  of  the  little  store!" 

Metamorphoses  were,  according  to  Isobel,  very  com¬ 
mon  among  them,  and  the  forms  of  crows,  cats,  hares, 
and  other  animals,  were  on  sucli  occasions  assumed. 
In  the  hare  shape  Isobel  herself  had  a  bad  adven¬ 
ture.  She  had  been  sent  by  the  Devil  to  Auldeame, 
in  that  favourite  disguise,  with  some  message  to  her 
neighbours,  but  had  the  misfortune  to  meet  Peter 
Papley  of  Killhill’s  servants  going  to  labour,  having 
his  hounds  with  them.  The  hounds  sprung  on  the 
disguised  witch,  “  And  I,”  says  Isobel,  “  run  a  very 
long  time,  and  being  hard  pressed,  was  forced  to  take 
to  my  own  house,  the  door  being  open,  and  there 
took  refuge  behind  a  chest.”  But  the  hounds  came 
in,  and  took  the  other  side  of  the  chest,  so  that  Isobel 
only  escaped  by  getting  into  another  house  and  gain¬ 
ing  time  to  say  the  disenchanting  rhyme  : — 


“  Hare,  hare,  God  send  thee  care ! 

I  atn  in  a  hare’s  likeness  now  ; 

But  I  shall  be  woman  even  now — 
Hare,  hare,  God  send  thee  care!” 


Such  accidents,  she  said,  were  not  uncommon, 
and  the  witches  were  sometimes  bitten  by  the  dogs, 
of  which  the  marks  remained  after  their  restoration 
to  human  shape.  But  none  had  been  killed  on  such 
occasions. 

The  ceremonial  of  the  Sabbath  meetings  was 
very  strict.  The  foul  fiend  was  veiy  rigid  in  exact¬ 
ing  the  most  ceremonious  attention  from  his  votaries, 
and  the  title  of  Lord  when  addressed  by  them. 
Sometimes,  however,  the  weird  sisters,  when  whis¬ 
pering  among  themselves,  irreverently  spoke  of  their 
sovereign  by  the  name  of  Black  John;  upon  such 
occasions,  the  fiend  rushed  on  them  like  a  school¬ 
master  who  surprises  his  pupils  in  delict,  and  beat 


246 


LETTERS  ON 


and  buffeted  them  without  mercy  or  discretion,  say¬ 
ing,  “  I  ken  weel  eneugh  what  you  are  saying  of  me.” 
Then  might  be  seen  the  various  tempers  of  those 
whom  he  commanded.  Alexander  Elder  in  Earlseat, 
often  fell  under  his  lord’s  displeasure  -for  neglect  of 
duty,  and,  being  weak  and  simple,  could  never  defend 
himself  save  with  tears,  cries,  and  entreaties  for 
mercy ;  but  some  of  the  women,  according  to  Isobel 
Gowdie’s  confession,  had  more  of  the  spirit  which 
animated  the  old  dame  of  Kellyburn  Braes.  Marga¬ 
ret  Wilson  in  Auldearne  would  “  defend  herself 
finely,”  and  make  her  hands  save  her  head,  after  the 
old  Scottish  manner.  Bessie  Wilson  could  also 
speak  very  crustily  with  her  tongue,  and  “  belled  the 
cat”  with  the  Devil  stoutly.  The  others  chiefly 
took  refuge  in  crying  “  pity  !  mercy !”  and  such  like, 
while  Satan  kept  beating  them  with  wool  cards,  and 
other  sharp  scourges,  without  attending  to  their  en¬ 
treaties  or  complaints.  There  were  attendant 
devils  and  imps,  who  served  the  witches.  They 
were  usually  distinguished  by  their  liveries,  which 
were  sad-dun,  grass-green,  sea-green,  and  yellow. 
The  witches  were  taught  to  call  these  imps  by  names, 
some  of  which  might  belong  to  humanity,  while 
others  had  a  diabolical  sound.  These  were  Robert 
the  Jakis,  Saunders  the  Red  Reaver,  Thomas  the 
Feary,  Swein,  an  old  Scandinavian  Duerg  probably ; 
the  Roaring  Lion,  Thief  of  Hell,  Wait-upon-Herself, 
MacKeeler,  Robert  the  Rule,  Hendrie  Craig,  and 
Rorie.  These  names,  odd  and  uncouth  enough,  are 
better  imagined  at  least  than  those  which  Hopkins . 
contrived  for  the  imps  which  he  discovered — such 
as  Pywacket,  Peck-in-the-Crown,  Sack-and-Sugar, 
News,  Vinegar- Tom,  and  Grizell  Greedigut,  the 
broad  vulgarity  of  which  epithets  shows  what  a  flat 
imagination  he  brought  to  support  his  impudent 
fictions. 

The  Devil,  who  commanded  the  fair  sisterhood, 
being  fond  of  mimicking  the  forms  of  the  Christian 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  247 

chuich,  used  to  rebaptize  the  witches  with  their 
blood,  and  in  his  own  great  name.  The  proud  sto¬ 
mached  Margaret  Wilson,  who  scorned  to  take  a 
blow  unrepaid,  even  from  Satan  himself,  was  called 
Pickle-nearest-the-Wind ;  her  compeer,  Bessie  Wil¬ 
son,  was  Throw-the-Cornyard ;  Elspet  Nishe’s  was 
Bessie  Bald  ;  Bessie  Hay’s  nickname  was,  Able-and- 
Stout,  and  Jane  Mairten,  the  Maiden  of  the  Covine, 
was  called  Ower-the-Dike-with-it. 

Isobel  took  upon  herself,  and  imputed  to  her  sis¬ 
ters,  as  already  mentioned,  the  death  of  sundry  per¬ 
sons  shot  with  elf-arrows,  because  they  had  omitted 
to  bless  themselves  as  the  aerial  flight  of  the  hags 
swept  pass  them.*  She  had  herself  the  temerity  to 
shoot  at  the  Laird  of  Park  as  he  was  riding  through 
a  ford,  but  missed  him,  through  the  influence  of  the 
running  stream  perhaps,  for  which  she  thanks  God 
in  her  confession;  and  adds,  that  at  the  time,  she 
received  a  great  cuff  from  Bessie  Hay  for  her  awk¬ 
wardness.  They  devoted  the  male  children  of  this 
gentleman  (of  the  well-known  family  of  Gordon  of 
Park,  I  presume),  to  wasting  illness,  by  the  following 
lines,  placing  at  the  same  time  in  the  fire  figures  com¬ 
posed  of  clay  mixed  with  paste,  to  represent  the  ob¬ 
ject  : — 

“  We  put  this  water  among  this  meal, 

For  long  dwiningt  and  ill  heal ; 

We  put  it  into  the  fire, 

To  bum  them  up  stook  and  Stour.  J 
That  they  be  burned  with  our  wili, 

Like  any  stikkle^  in  a  kiln.” 

Such  was  the  singular  confession  of  Isobel  Gow- 
die,  made  voluntarily,  it  would  seem,  and  without 
compulsion  of  any  kind,  judicially  authenticated  by 
the  subscription  of  the  notary,  clergymen,  and  gen¬ 
tlemen  present ;  adhered  to  after  their  separate  diet * 

*  See  p.  144. 

t  Pining.  $  We  should  read  perhaps,  “  limb  and  lire." 

$  Stubble. 


243 


LETTERS  ON 


as  they  are  called,  of  examination,  and  containing 
no  variety  or  contradiction  in  its  details.  Whatever 
might  be  her  state  of  mind  in  other  respects,  she 
seems  to  have  been  perfectly  conscious  of  the  peril¬ 
ous  consequence  of  her  disclosures  to  her  own  per¬ 
son.  “  I  do  not  deserve,”  says  she,  “  to  be  seated 
here  at  ease  and  unharmed,  but  rather  to  be  stretched 
on  an  iron  rack :  nor  can  my  crimes  be  atoned  for 
were  I  to  be  drawn  asunder  by  wild  horses.” 

It  only  remains  to  suppose,  that  this  wretched 
creature  was  under  the  dominion  of  some  peculiar 
species  of  lunacy,  to  which  a  full  perusal  of  her  con¬ 
fession  might  perhaps  guide  a  medical  person  of 
judgment  and  experience.  Her  case  is  interesting, 
as  throwing  upon  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Scottish  witches  a  light  which  we  seek  in  vain  else¬ 
where. 

Other  unfortunate  persons  were  betrayed  to  theii 
own  reproof  by  other  means  than  the  derangement  of 
mind,  which  seems  to  have  operated  onlsobel  Gowdie. 
Some,  as  we  have  seen,  endeavoured  to  escape  from 
the  charge  of  witchcraft,  by  admitting  an  intercourse 
with  the  fairy  people  ;  an  excuse  which  was  never 
admitted  as  relevant.  Others  were  subjected  to  cruel 
tortures,  by  which  our  ancestors  thought  the  guilty 
might  be  brought  to  confession,  but  which  far  more 
frequently  compelled  the  innocent  to  bear  evidence 
against  themselves.  On  this  subject  the  celebrated 
Sir  George  Mackenzie,  “that  noble  wit  of  Scotland,” 
as  he  is  termed  by  Dryden,  has  some  most  judicious 
eflections,  which  we  shall  endeavour  to  abstract,  as 
the  result  of  the  experience  of  one,  who,  in  his  ca¬ 
pacity  of  Lord  Advocate,  had  often  occasion  to  con¬ 
duct  witch-trials,  and  who,  not  doubting  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  crime,  was  of  opinion,  that,  on  account 
of  its  very  horror,  it  required  the  clearest  and  most 
strict  probation. 

He  first,  insists  on  the  great  improbability  of  the 
Fiend,  without  riches  to  bestow,  and  avowedly  sub- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


249 


jected  to  a  higher  power,  being  able  to  enlist  such 
numbers  of  recruits,  and  the  little  advantage  which 
he  himself  would  gain  by  doing  so.  But,  2dly,  says 
Mackenzie,  “  the  persons  ordinarily  accused  of  this 
crime,  are  poor  ignorant  men,  or  else  women,  who 
understand  not  the  nature  of  what  they  are  accused 
of;  and  many  mistake  their  own  fears  and  apprehen¬ 
sions  for  witchcraft,  of  which  I  shall  give  two  in¬ 
stances.  One,  of  a  poor  weaver,  who,  after  he  had 
confessed  witchcraft,  being  asked  how  he  saw  the 
devil,  made  answer,  ‘  Like  flies  dancing  about  the 
candle.’  Another,  of  a  woman,  who  asked  seriously 
when  she  was  accused,  if  a  woman  might  be  a  witch 
and  not  know  it  1  And  it  is  dangerous  that  persons, 
of  all  others  the  most  simple,  should  be  tried  for  a 
crime  of  all  others  the  most  mysterious.  3dly, 
These  poor  creatures,  when  they  are  defamed,  be¬ 
come  so  confounded  with  fear,  and  the  close  prison 
in  which  they  are  kept,  and  so  starved  for  want  of 
meat  and  drink,  either  of  which  wants  is  enough  to 
disarm  the  strongest  reason,  that  hardly  wiser  and 
more  serious  people  than  they  would  escape  distrac¬ 
tion  ;  and  when  men  are  confounded  with  fear  and 
apprehension,  they  will  imagine  things  the  most  ri¬ 
diculous  and  absurd,” — of  which  instances  are  given. 
4thly,  “  Most  of  these  poor  creatures  are  tortured  by 
their  keepers,  who,  being  persuaded  they  do  God 
good  service,  think  it  their  duty  to  vex  and  torment 
poor  prisoners  delivered  up  to  them,  as  rebels  to 
heaven  and  enemies  to  men ;  and  I  know”  (continues 
Sir  George,)  “  ex  certissima  scientia,  that  most  of  all 
that  ever  were  taken  were  tormented  in  this  man¬ 
ner,  and  this  usage  was  the  ground  of  all  their  con¬ 
fession  ;  and  albeit  the  poor  miscreants  cannot  prove 
this  usage,  the  actors  being  the  only  witnesses,  yet 
the  judge  should  be  jealous  of  it,  as  that  which  did 
at  first  elicit  the  confession,  and  for  fear  of  which 
they  dare  not  retract  it.”  5thly,  This  learned  author 
gives  us  an  instance,  how  these  unfortunate  crea- 


250 


LETTERS  ON 


tures  might  be  reduced  to  confession,  by  the  very 
infamy  which  the  accusation  cast  upon  them,  and 
which  was  sure  to  follow,  condemning  them  for  life 
to  a  state  of  necessity,  misery,  and  suspicion,  such 
as  any  person  of  reputation  would  willingly  exchange 
for  a  short  death,  however  painful. 

“I  went  when  I  was  a  Justice-deput  to  examine 
some  women  who  had  confessed  judicially,  and  one 
of  them,  who  was  a  silly  creature,  told  me  under 
secresie,  that  she  had  not  confessed  because  she 
was  guilty,  but  being  a  poor  creature  who  wrought 
for  her  meat,  and  being  defamed  for  a  witch,  she 
knew  she  would  starve,  for  no  person  thereafter 
would  either  give  her  meat  or  lodging,  and  that  all 
men  would  beat  her  and  hound  dogs  at  her,  and  that 
therefore  she  desired  to  be  out  of  the  world  ;  where¬ 
upon  she  wept  most  bitterly,  and  upon  her  knees 
called  God  to  witness  to  what  she  said.  Another 
told  me,  that  she  was  afraid  the  devil  would  chal¬ 
lenge  a  right  to  her,  after  she  was  said  to  be  his  ser¬ 
vant,  and  would  haunt  her,  as  the  minister  said, 
when  he  was  desiring  her  to  confess,  and  therefore 
she  desired  to  die.  And  really  ministers  are  oft- 
times  indiscreet  in  their  zeal  to  have  poor  creatures 
to  confess  in  this ;  and  I  recommend  to  judges,  that 
the  wisest  ministers  should  be  sent  to  them,  and  those 
who  are  sent  should  be  cautious  in  this  particular.”* 

As  a  corollary  to  this  affecting  story,  I  may  quote 
the  case  of  a  woman  in  Lauder  jail,  who  lay  there 
with  other  females  on  a  charge  of  witchcraft.  Her 
companions  in  prison  were  adjudged  to  die,  and  she 
too  had,  by  a  confession  as  full  as  theirs,  given  her¬ 
self  up  as  guilty.  She,  therefore,  sent  for  the  minis¬ 
ter  of  the  town,  and  entreated  to  be  put  to  death  with 
the  others  who  had  been  appointed  to  suffer  upon  the 
next  Monday.  The  clergyman,  however,  as  well  as 
others,  had  adopted  a  strong  persuasion  that  this  con- 


*  Mackenzie’s  Criminal  Law,  p.  45 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  251 

fession  was  made  up  in  the  pride  of  her  heart,  for 
the  destruction  of  her  own  life,  and  had  no  founda¬ 
tion  in  truth.  We  give  the  result  of  the  minister’s 
words : 

“  Therefore  much  pains  was  taken  on  her,  by- 
ministers  and  others,  on  Saturday,  Sunday,  and  Mon¬ 
day  morning,  that  she  might  resile  from  that  confes¬ 
sion,  which  was  suspected  to  be  but  a  temptation  of 
the  Devil,  to  destroy  both  her  soul  and  body  ;  yea,  it 
was  charged  home  upon  her  by  the  ministers,  that 
there  was  just  ground  of  jealousy  that  her  confes¬ 
sion  was  not  sincere,  and  she  was  charged  before  the 
Lord  to  declare  the  truth,  and  not  to  take  her  blood 
upon  her  own  head.  Yet  she  stiffly  adhered  to  what 
she  had  said,  and  cried  always  to  be  put  away  with 
the  rest.  Whereupon,  on  Monday  morning,  being 
called  before  the  judges,  and  confessing  before  them 
what  she  had  said,  she  wras  found  guilty,  and  con¬ 
demned  to  die  with  the  rest  that  same  day.  Being 
carried  forth  to  the  place  of  execution,  she  remained 
silent  during  the  first,  second,  and  third  prayer,  and 
then  perceiving  that  there  remained  no  more,  but  to 
rise  and  go  to  the  stake,  she  lifted  up  her  body,  and 
with  a  loud  voice  cried  out,  *  Now,  all  you  that  see 
me  this  day,  know  that  I  am  now  to  die  as  a  witch 
by  my  own  confession,  and  I  free  all  men,  especially 
the  ministers  and  magistrates,  of  the  guilt  of  my 
blood.  I  take  it  wholly  upon  myself — my  blood  be 
upon  my  own  head ;  and  as  I  must  make  answer  to 
the  God  of  heaven  presently,  I  declare  I  am  as  free 
of  witchcraft  as  any  child ;  but  being  delated  by  a 
malicious  woman,  and  put  in  prison  under  the  name 
of  a  witch,  disowned  by  my  husband  and  friends,  and 
seeing  no  ground  of  hope  of  my  coming  out  of  pri¬ 
son,-  or  ever  coming  in  credit  again,  through  the 
temptation  of  the  devil  I  made  up  that  confession, 
on  purpose  to  destroy  my  own  life,  being  weary  of 
it,  and  choosing  rather  to  die  than  live — and  so  died. 
Which  lamentable  story,  as  it  did  then  astonish  all 


252 


LETTERS  ON 


the  spectators,  none  of  which  could  restrain  them¬ 
selves  from  tears ;  so  it  may  be  to  all  a  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  Satan’s  subtlety,  whose  design  is  still  to  de¬ 
stroy  all,  partly  by  tempting  many  to  presumption, 
and  some  others  to  despair.  These  things  to  be  of 
truth,  are  attested  by  an  eye  and  ear-witness  who  is 
yet  alive,  a  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel.”*  It  is 
strange  the  inference  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
deduced,  that  as  one  woman,  out  of  very  despair,  re¬ 
nounced  her  own  life,  the  same  might  have  been  the 
case  in  many  other  instances,  wherein  the  confes¬ 
sions  of  the  accused  constituted  the  principal,  if  not 
sole,  evidence  of  the  guilt. 

One  celebrated  mode  of  detecting  witches,  and 
torturing  them  at  the  same  time  to  draw  forth  con¬ 
fession,  was,  by  running  pins  into  their  body,  on  pre¬ 
tence  of  discovering  the  devil’s  stigma,  or  mark, 
which  was  said  to  be  inflicted  by  him  upon  all  his 
vassals,  and  to  be  insensible  to  pain.  This  species 
of  search,  the  practice  of  the  infamous  Hopkins,  was 
in  Scotland  reduced  to  a  trade ;  and  the  young  witch- 
finder  was  allowed  to  torture  the  accused  party,  as 
if  in  exercise  of  a  lawful  calling,  although  Sir 
George  Mackenzie  stigmatizes  it  as  a  horrid  impos¬ 
ture.  I  observe  in  the  Collections  of  Mr.  Pitcairn, 
that,  at  the  trial  of  Janet  Peaston  of  Dalkeith,  the 
magistrates  and  ministers  of  that  market  town  caused 
John  Kincaid  of  Tranent,  the  common  pricker,  to 
exercise  his  craft  upon  her,  “  who  found  two  marks 
of  what  he  called  the  devil’s  making,  and  which  ap¬ 
peared  indeed  to  be  so,  for  she  could  not  feel  the  pin 
when  it  was  put  into  either  of  the  said  marks,  nor 
did  they  (the  marks)  bleed  when  they  were  taken  out 
again ;  and  when  she  was  asked  where  she  thought 
the  pins  were  put  in,  she  pointed  to  a  part  of  her 
body  distant  from  the  real  place.  They  were  pins 
of  three  inches  in  length.” 


*  Sinclair’s  Satan’s  Invisible  World  discovered,  p.  43. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  253 

Besides  the  fact,  that  the  persons  of  old  people 
especially  sometimes  contain  spots  void  of  sensi¬ 
bility,  there  is  also  room  to  believe  that  the  pro 
fessed  prickers  used  a  pin,  the  point,  or  lower  part 
of  which  was,  on  being  pressed  down,  sheathed  in 
the  upper,  which  was  hollow  for  the  purpose,  and 
that  which  appeared  to  enter  the  body  did  not  pierce 
it  at  all.  But,  were  it  worth  while  to  dwell  on  a 
subject  so  ridiculous,  we  might  recollect  that  in  so 
terrible  an  agony  of  shame  that  is  likely  to  convulse 
a  human  being  under  such  a  trial,  and  such  personal 
insults,  the  blood  is  apt  to  return  to  the  heart,  and  a 
slight  wound,  as  with  a  pin,  may  be  inflicted,  without 
being  followed  by  blood.  In  the  latter  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  this  childish,  indecent,  and 
brutal  practice,  began  to  be  called  by  its  right  name. 
Fountainhall  has  recorded,  that  in  1678,  the  Privy 
Council  received  the  complaint  of  a  poor  woman, 
who  had  been  abused  by  a  country  magistrate,  and 
one  of  those  impostors  called  prickers.  They  ex¬ 
pressed  high  displeasure  against  the  presumption  of 
the  parties  complained  against,  and  treated  the 
pricker  as  a  common  cheat.* 

From  this  and  other  instances,  it  appears  that  the 
predominance  of  the  superstition  of  witchcraft,  and 
the  proneness  to  persecute  those  accused  of  such 
practices  in  Scotland,  were  increased  by  the  too 
great  readiness  of  subordinate  judges  to  interfere  in 
matters  which  were,  in  fact,  beyond  their  jurisdic¬ 
tion.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Justiciary  was  that  in 
which  the  cause  properly  and  exclusively  ought  to 
have  been  tried.  But,  in  practice,  each  inferior  judge 
in  the  country,  the  pettiest  bailie  in  the  most  trifling 
burgh,  the  smallest  and  most  ignorant  baron  of  a 
rude  territory,  took  it  on  him  to  arrest,  imprison,  and 
examine,  in  which  examinations,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  the  accused  suffered  the  grossest  injustice. 

*  Fountainhall’s  Decisions,  vol.  1,  p  15. 

Y 


254 


LETTERS  ON 


The  copies  of  these  examinations,  made  up  oi  ex* 
torted  confessions,  or  the  evidence  of  inhabile  wit¬ 
nesses,  were  all  that  were  transmitted  to  the  Privy 
Council,  who  were  to  direct  the  future  mode  of  pro¬ 
cedure.  Thus  no  creature  was  secure  against  the 
malice  or  folly  of  some  defamatory  accusation,  if 
there  was  a  timid  or  superstitious  judge,  though  of 
the  meanest  denomination,  to  be  found  within  the 
district. 

But,  secondly,  it  was  the  course  of  the  Privy 
Council  to  appoint  commissions  of  the  gentlemen 
of  the  country,  and  particularly  of  the  clergymen, 
though  not  likely  from  their  education  to  be  freed 
from  general  prejudice,  and  peculiarly  liable  to  be 
effected  by  the  clamour  of  the  neighbourhood  against 
the  delinquent.  Now,  as  it  is  well  known  that  such 
a  commission  could  not  be  granted  in  a  case  of  mur¬ 
der  in  the  county  where  the  crime  was  charged, 
there  seems  no  good  reason  why  the  trial  of  witches, 
so  liable  to  excite  the  passions,  should  not  have  been 
uniformly  tried  by  a  court  whose  rank  and  condition 
secured  them  from  the  suspicion  of  partiality.  But 
our  ancestors  arranged  it  otherwise,  and  it  was  the 
consequence  that  such  commissioners  very  seldom, 
by  acquitting  the  persons  brought  before  them,  lost  an 
opportunity  of  destroying  a  witch. 

Neither  must  it  be  forgotten,  that  the  proof  led  in 
support  of  the  prosecution  was  of  a  kind  very  unu¬ 
sual  in  jurisprudence.  The  lawyers  admitted  as 
evidence  what  they  called  damnum  minatum,  et  ma~ 
lum  secutum — some  mischief,  that  is  to  say,  follow¬ 
ing  close  upon  a  threat,  or  wish  of  revenge,  uttered 
by  the  supposed  witch,  which,  though  it  might  be 
attributed  to  the  most  natural  course  of  events,  was 
supposed  necessarily  to  be  in  consequence  of  the 
menaces  of  the  accused. 

Sometimes  this  vague  species  of  evidence  was  still 
more  loosely  adduced,  and  allegations  of  danger 
threatened,  and  rhischief  ensuing,  were  admitted, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


255 


though  the  menaces  had  not  come  from  the  accused 
party  herself.  On  10th  June,  1661,  as  John  Stewart, 
one  of  a  party  of  stout  burghers  of  Dalkeith,  ap¬ 
pointed  to  guard  an  old  woman,  called  Christian 
Wilson,  from  that  town  to  Niddrie,  was  cleaning  his 
gun,  he  was  slyly  questioned  by  Janet  Cocke,  an¬ 
other  confessing  witch,  who  probably  saw  his  courage 
was  not  entirely  constant,  “  What  would  you  think 
if  the  Devil  raise  a  whirlwind,  and  take  her  from  you 
on  the  road  to-morrow'?”  Sure  enough,  on  their 
journey  to  Niddrie,  the  party  were  actually  assailed 
by  a  sudden  gust  of  wind  (not  a  very  uncommon 
event  in  that  climate),  which  scarce  permitted  the 
•valiant  guard  to  keep  their  feet,  while  the  miserable 
prisoner  was  blown  into  a  pool  of  water,  and  with 
difficulty  raised  again.  There  is  some  ground  to 
hope  that  this  extraordinary  evidence  was  not  ad¬ 
mitted  upon  the  trial. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  an  old  wizard,  whose  real, 
name  was  Alexander  Hunter,  though  he  was  more 
generally  known  by  the  nickname  of  Hatteraick, 
which  it  had  pleased  the  devil  to  confer  upon  him. 
This  man  had  for  some  time  adopted  the  credit  of 
being  a  conjurer,  and  curing  the  diseases  of  man  and 
beast,  by  spells  and  charms.  One  summer’s  day,  on 
a  green  hill-side,  the  devil  appeared  to  him  in  the 
shape  of  a  grave  “  Mediciner,”  addressing  him  thus, 
roundly, — “Sandie,  you  have  too  long  followed  my 
trade  without  acknotvledging  me  for  a  master.  You 
must  now  enlist  with  me  and  become  my  servant, 
and  I  will  teach  you  your  trade  better.”  Hatteraick 
consented  to  the  proposal,  and  we  shall  let  the  Rev. 
Mr.  George  Sinclair  tell  the  rest  of  the  tale. 

“  After  this,  he  grew  very  famous  through  the 
country  for  his  charming  and  curing  of  diseases  in 
men  and  beasts,  and  turned  a  vagrant  fellow  like  a 
jockie,*  gaining  meal,  and  flesh,  and  money  by  his 


*  Or  Scottish  wandering  beggar. 


256 


LETTERS  ON 


cliarms,  such  was  the  ignorance  of  many  at  that 
time.  Whatever  house  he  came  to,  none  durst  refuse 
Hatteraick  an  alms,  rather  for  his  ill  than  his  good. 
One  day  he  came  to  the  yait  (gate)  of  Samuelston, 
when  some  friends  after  dinner  were  going  to  horse. 
A  young  gentleman,  brother  to  the  lady,  seeing  him, 
switched  him  about  the  ears,  saying, — 4  You  warlock 
carle,  what  have  you  to  do  here  V  Whereupon  the 
fellow  goes  away  grumbling,  and  was  overheard  to 
say, 4  You  shall  dear  buy  this,  ere  it  be  long.’  This 
was  damnum  minatum.  The  young  gentleman 
conveyed  his  friends  a  far  way  off,  and  came  home 
that  way  again,  where  he  supped.  After  supper,  tak¬ 
ing  his  horse  and  crossing  Tyne  water  to  go  home, 
he  rides  through  a  shady  piece  of  a  haugh,  commonly 
called  Allers,  and  the  evening  being  somewhat  dark, 
he  met  with  some  persons  there  that  begat  a  dreadful 
consternation  in  him,  which  for  the  most  part  he 
would  never  reveal.  This  was  malum  secutum. 
When  he  came  home,  the  servants  observed  terror 
and  fear  in  his  countenance.  The  next  day  he  be¬ 
came  distracted,  and  was  bound  for  several  days. 
His  sister,  the  Lady  Samuelston,  hearing  of  it,  was 
heard  say, 4  Surely  that  knave  Hatteraick  is  the  cause 
of  his  trouble  ;  call  for  him  in  all  haste.’  When  he 
had  come  to  her,  4  Sandie,’  says  she, 4  what  is  this 
you  have  done  to  my  brother  William  '?’ — 4 1  told 
him,’  says  he, 4 1  should  make  him  repent  of  his 
striking  me  at  the  yait,  lately.’  She,  giving  the  rogue 
fair  words,  and  promising  him  his  pockful  of  meal, 
with  beef  and  cheese,  persuaded  the  fellow  to  cure 
him  again.  He  undertook  the  business  y  4  but  I  must 
first,’  says  he, 4  have  one  of  his  sarks’  (shirts),  which 
was  soon  gotten.  What  pranks  he  played  with  it  can¬ 
not  be  known  ;  but  within  a  short  while  the  gentle¬ 
man  recovered  his  health.  When  Hatteraick  came 
to  receive  his  wages,  he  told  the  lady, 4  Your  brother 
William  shall  quickly  go  off  the  country,  but  shall 
never  return.’  She,  knowing  the  fellow’s  prophecies 


demonology  and  witchcraft.  257 

to  hold  true,  caused  the  brother  to  make  a  disposition 
to  her  of  all  his  patrimony,  to  the  defrauding  of  his 
younger  brother,  George.  After  that  this  warlock 
had  abused  the  country  for  a  long  time,  he  was  at  last 
apprehended  at  Dunbar,  and  brought  into  Edinburgh, 
and  burnt  upon  the  Castlehill.”* 

Now,  if  Hatteraick  was  really  put  to  death  on 
such  evidence,  it  is  worth  while  to  consider  what  was 
its  real  amount.  A  hot-tempered  swaggering  young 
gentleman  horsewhips  a  beggar  of  ill  fame  for  loiter¬ 
ing  about  the  gate  of  his  sister’s  house.  The  beggar 
grumbles,  as  any  man  would.  The  young  man,  rid¬ 
ing  in  the  night,  and  probably  in  liquor,  through  a 
dark  shady  place,  is  frightened  by  he  would  not,  and 
probably  could  not,  tell  what,  and  has  a  fever-fit. 
His  sister  employs  the  wizard  to  take  off  the  spell 
according  to  his  profession;  and  here  is  damnum 
minatum,  et  malum  secutum,  and  all  legal  cause  for 
burning  a  man  to  ashes !  The  vagrant  Hatteraick 
probably  knew  something  of  the  wild  young  man 
which  might  soon  oblige  him  to  leave  the  country ; 
and  the  selfish  Lady  Samuelston,  learning  the 
probability  of  his  departure,  committed  a  fraud 
which  ought  to  have  rendered  her  evidence  in¬ 
admissible. 

Besides  these  particular  disadvantages,  to  which 
the  parties  accused  of  this  crime  in  Scotland  were 
necessarily  exposed,  both  in  relation  to  the  judicature 
by  which  they  were  tried,  and  the  evidence  upon 
which  they  were  convicted,  their  situation  was  ren¬ 
dered  intolerable  by  the  detestation  in  which  they 
were  held  by  all  ranks.  The  gentiy  hated  them, 
because  the  diseases  and  death  of  their  relations  and 
children  were  often  imputed  to  them;  the  grossly 
superstitious  vulgar  abhorred  them  with  still  more 
perfect  dread  and  loathing.  And  among  those 
jiatural  feelings,  others  of  a  less  pardonable  descrip- 


•  Sinclair’s  Satan’s  Invisible  World  discovered,  p  98. 

Y  2 


258 


LETTERS  ON 


tion  found  means  to  shelter  themselves.  In  one 
case,  we  are  informed  by  Mackenzie,  a  poor  girl  was 
to  die  for  witchcraft,  of  whom  the  real  crime  was, 
that  she  had  attracted  too  great  a  share,  in  the  lady’s 
opinion,  of  the  attention  of  the  laird. 

Having  thus  given  some  reasons  why  the  prosecu¬ 
tions  for  witchcraft  in  Scotland  were  so  numerous 
and  fatal,  we  return  to  the  general  history  of  the 
trials  recorded  from  the  reign  of  James  Y.  to  the 
union  of  the  kingdoms.  Through  the  reign  of  Queen 
Mary  these  trials  for  sorcery  became  numerous,  and 
the  crime  was  subjected  to  heavier  punishment  by 
the  73d  act  of  her  9th  Parliament.  But  when  James 
VI.  approached  to  years  of  discretion,  the  extreme 
anxiety  which  he  displayed  to  penetrate  more  deeply 
into  mysteries  which  others  had  regarded  as  a  very 
millstone  of  obscurity,  drew  still  larger  attention  to 
the  subject.  The  sovereign  had  exhausted  his  talents 
of  investigation  on  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  and 
credit  was  given  to  all  who  acted  in  defence  of  the 
opinions  of  the  reigning  prince.  This  natural  ten¬ 
dency  to  comply  with  the  opinions  of  the  sovereign, 
was  much  augmented  by  the  disposition  of  the  Kirk 
to  the  same  sentiments.  We  have  already  said  that 
these  venerable  persons  entertained,  with  good  faith, 
the  general  erroneous  belief  respecting  witchcraft, — 
regarding  it  indeed  as  a  crime  which  affected  their 
own  order  more  nearly  than  others  in  the  state,  since, 
especially  called  to  the  service  of  heaven,  they  were 
peculiarly  bound  to  oppose  the  incursions  of  Satan. 
The  works  which  remain  behind  them  show,  among 
better  things,  an  unhesitating  belief  in  what  were 
called  by  them  “  special  providences and  this  was 
equalled,  at  least,  by  their  credulity  as  to  the  actual 
interference  of  evil  spirits  in  the  affairs  of  this  world. 
They  applied  these  principles  of  belief  to  the  meanest 
causes.  A  horse  falling  lame  was  a  snare  of  the 
Devil,  to  keep  the  good  clergyman  from  preaching ; 
the  arrival  of  a  skilful  farrier  was  accounted  a  special 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  259 

providence,  to  defeat  the  purpose  of  Satan.  This 
was,  doubtless,  in  a  general  sense  true,  since  nothing 
can  happen  without  the  foreknowledge  and  will  of 
Heaven ;  but  we  are  authorized  to  believe  that  the 
period  of  supernatural  interference  has  long  passed  ! 
away,  and  that  the  great  Creator  is  content  to  ex¬ 
ecute  his  purposes  by  the  operation  of  those  laws 
which  influence  the  general  course  of  nature.  Our 
ancient  Scottish  divines  thought  otherwise.  Sur-  ' 
rounded,  as  they  conceived  themselves,  by  the  snares 
and  temptations  of  hell,  and  relying  on  the  aid  of 
Heaven,  they  entered  into  war  with  the  kingdom  of 
Satan,  as  the  crusaders  of  old  invaded  the  land  of 
Palestine,  with  the  same  confidence  in  the  justice  of 
their  cause,  and  similar  indifference  concerning  the 
feelings  of  those  whom  they  accounted  the  enemies 
of  God  and  man.  We  have  already  seen  that  even 
the  conviction  that  a  woman  was  innocent  of  the 
crime  of  witchcraft  did  not  induce  a  worthy  clergy¬ 
man  to  use  any  effort  to  withdraw  her  from  the 
stake ;  and  in  the  same  collection,*  there  occur  some 
observable  passage  of  God’s  providence  to  a  godly 
minister,  in  giving  him  “  full  clearness”  concerning 
Bessie  Grahame,  suspected  of  witchcraft.  The 
whole  detail  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  spirit  of 
credulity  which  well-disposed  men  brought  with  them 
to  such  investigations,  and  how  easily  "the  gravest 
doubts  were  removed,  rather  than  a  witch  should  be 
left  undetected. 

Bessie  Grahame  had  been  committed,  it  would 
seem,  under  suspicions  of  no  great  weight,  since  the 
minister,  after  various  conferences,  found  her  defence 
so  successful,  that  he  actually  pitied  her  hard  usage, 
and  wished  for  her  delivery  from  prison,  especially  as 
he  doubted  whether  a  civil  court  would  send  her  to 
an  assize,  or  whether  an  assize  would  be  disposed 

♦  Satan’s  Invisible  World,  by  Mr.  George  Sinclair.  The  author  was 
Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  and  after¬ 
ward  minister  of  Eastwood,  in  Renfrewshire. 


260  * 


LETTERS  ON 


to  convict  her.  While  the  minister  was  in  this  doubt, 
a  fellow  named  Begg  was  employed  as  a  skilful 
pricker ;  by  whose  authority  it  is  not  said,  he  thrust 
a  great  brass  pin  up  to  the  head  in  a  wart  on  the 
woman’s  back,  which  he  affirmed  to  be  the  Devil’s 
mark.  A  commission  was  granted  for  trial ;  but  still 
the  chief  gentlemen  in  the  county  refused  to  act,  and 
the  clergyman’s  own  doubts  were  far  from  being  re¬ 
moved.  This  put  the  worthy  man  upon  a  solemn 
prayer  to  God,  “  that  if  he  would  find  out  a  way  for 
giving  the  minister  full  clearness  of  her  guilt,  he 
would  acknowledge  it  as  a  singular  favour  and 
mercy.”  This,  according  to  his  idea,  was  accom¬ 
plished  in  the  following  manner,  which  he  regarded 
as  an  answer  to  his  prayer.  One  evening  the  cler¬ 
gyman,  with  Alexander  Simpson,  the  kirk-officer,  and 
his  own  servant,  had  visited  Bessie  in  her  cell,  to  urge 
her  to  confession,  but  in  vain.  As  they  stood  on  the 
stair  head  behind  the  door,  they  heard  the  prisoner, 
whom  they  had  left  alone  in  her  place  of  confinement, 
discoursing  with  another  person,  who  used  alow  and 
ghostly  tone,  which  the  minister  instantly  recognised 
as  the  Foul  Fiend’s  voice.  But  for  this  discovery, 
we  should  have  been  of  opinion  that  Bessie  Grahame 
talked  to  herself,  as  melancholy  and  despairing 
wretches  are  in  the  habit  of  doing.  But  as  Alexander 
Simpson  pretended  to  understand  the  sense  of  what 
was  said  within  the  cell,  and  the  minister  himself 
was  pretty  sure  he  heard  two  voices  at  the  same  time, 
he  regarded  the  overhearing  this  conversation  as  the 
answer  of  the  Deity  to  his  petition — and  thenceforth 
was  troubled  with  no  doubts  either  as  to  the 
reasonableness  and  propriety  of  his  prayer,  or  the 
guilt  of  Bessie  Grahame,  though  she  died  obstinate, 
and  would  not  confess  ;  nay,  made  a  most  decent 
and  Christian  end,  acquitting  her  judges  and  jury  of 
her  blood,  in  respect  of  the  strong  delusion  under 
Which  they  laboured. 

Although  the  ministers,  whose  opinions  were  but 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCUAFT.  261 

too  strongly,  on  this  head,  in  correspondence  with 
the  prevailing  superstitions  of  the  people,  nourished, 
in  the  early  system  of  church  government,  a  con¬ 
siderable  desire  to  secure  their  own  immunities  and 
privileges  as  a  national  church,  which  failed  not  at 
last  to  be  brought  into  contact  with  the  king’s  pre¬ 
rogative  ;  yet,  in  the  earlier  part  of  his  reign,  James, 
when  freed  from  the  influence  of  such  a  favourite  as 
the  profligate  Stuart,  Earl  of  Arran,  was,  in  his  per¬ 
sonal  qualities,  rather  acceptable  to  the  clergy  of  his 
kingdom  and  period.  At  his  departing  from  Scotland, 
on  his  romantic  expedition  to  bring  home  a  consort 
from  Denmark,  he  very  politically  recommended  to 
the  clergy  to  contribute  all  that  lay  in  their  power  to 
assist  the  civil  magistrates,  and  preserve  the  public 
peace  of  the  kingdom.  The  king,  after  his  return, 
acknowledged,  with  many  thanks,  the  care  which  the 
clergy  had  bestowed  in  this  particular.  Nor  were 
they  slack  in  assuming  the  merit  to  themselves,  for 
they  often  reminded  him,  in  their  future  discords,  that 
his  kingdom  had  never  been  so  quiet  as  during  his 
voyage  to  Denmark,  when  the  clergy  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  intrusted  with  the  charge  of  the  public 
government. 

During  the  halcyon  period  of  union  between  kirk 
and  king,  their  hearty  agreement  on  the  subject  of 
witchcraft  failed  not  to  heat  the  fires  against  the  per¬ 
sons  suspected  of  such  iniquity.  The  clergy  con¬ 
sidered  that  the  Roman  Catholics,  their  principal 
enemies,  were  equally  devoted  to  the  Devil,  the 
mass,  and  the  witches,  which,  in  their  opinion,  were 
mutually  associated  together,  and  natural  allies  -in 
the  great  cause  of  mischief.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
pedantic  sovereign  having  exercised  his  learning  and 
ingenuity  in  the  Demonologia,  considered  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  every  witch  who  was  burned,  as  a  necessary 
conclusion  of  his  own  royal  syllogisms.  The  juries 
were  also  afraid  of  the  consequences  of  acquittal  to 
themselves,  being  liable  to  suffer  under  an  assize  of 


262 


LETTERS  ON 


error,  should  they  be  thought  to  have  been  unjustly 
merciful ;  and  as  the  witches  tried  were  personally 
as  insignificant  as  the  charge  itself  was  odious,  there 
was  no  restraint  whatever  upon  those  in  whose  hands 
their  fate  lay,  and  there  seldom  wanted  some  such 
confession  as  we  have  often  mentioned,  or  such  evi¬ 
dence  as  that  collected  by  the  minister  who  over¬ 
heard  the  dialogue  between  the  witch  and  her  master, 
to  salve  their  consciences,  and  reconcile  them  to 
bring  in  a  verdict  of  Guilty. 

The  execution  of  witches  became,  for  these  rea¬ 
sons,  very  common  in  Scotland,  where  the  king 
seemed  in  some  measure  to  have  made  himself  a 
party  in  the  cause,  and  the  clergy  esteemed  them¬ 
selves  such  from  tbe  very  nature  of  their  profession. 
But  the  general  spite  of  Satan  and  his  adherents 
was  supposed  to  be  especially  directed  against  James, 
on  account  of  his  match  with  Anne  of  Denmark — 
the  union  of  a  Protestant  princess  with  a  Protestant 
prince,  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  heir  of  England, 
being,  it  could  not  be  doubted,  an  event  which  struck 
the  whole  kingdom  of  darkness  with  alarm.  James 
was  self-gratified  by  the  unusual  spirit  which  he  had 
displayed  on  his  voyage  in  quest  of  his  bride,  and 
well  disposed  to  fancy  that  he  had  performed  it  in 
positive  opposition,  not  only  to  the  indirect  policy 
of  Elizabeth,  but  to  the  malevolent  purpose  of  hell 
itself.  His  fleet  had  been  tempest-tossed,  and  he  very 
naturally  believed  that  the  Prince  of  the  power  of 
the  air  had  been  personally  active  on  the  occasion. 

The  principal  person  implicated  in  these  heretical 
and  treasonable  undertakings,  was  one  Agnes  Simp¬ 
son,  or  Sampson,  called  the  Wise  Wife  of  Keith,  and 
described  by  Archbishop  Spottiswood,  not  as  one  of 
the  base  or  ignorant  class  of  ordinary  witches,  but 
a  grave  matron,  composed  and  deliberate  in  her  an¬ 
swers,  which  were  all  to  some  purpose.  This  grave 
dame,  from  the  terms  of  her  endictment,  seems  to 
have  been  a  kind  of  white  witch,  affecting  to  cure 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  263 

diseases  by  words  and  charms,  a  dangerous  profes¬ 
sion  considering  the  times  in  which  she  lived.  Nei¬ 
ther  did  she  always  keep  the  right  and  sheltered  side 
of  the  law  in  such  delicate  operations.  One  article 
of  herendictment  proves  this,  and  at  the  same  time 
establishes,  that  the  Wise  Woman  of  Keith  knew 
how  to  turn  her  profession  to  account :  for,  being 
consulted  in  the  illness  of  Isobel  Hamilton,  she  gave 
her  opinion,  that  nothing  could  amend  her  unless  the 
Devil  was  raised;  and  the  sick  woman’s  husband 
startling  at  the  proposal,  and  being  indifferent  per¬ 
haps  about  the  issue,  would  not  bestow  the  necessary 
expenses,  whereupon  the  Wise  Wife  refused  to  raise 
the  Devil,  and  the  patient  died.  This  woman  was 
principally  engaged  in  an  extensive  conspiracy  to 
destroy  the  fleet  of  the  queen  by  raising  a  tempest ; 
and  to  take  the  king’s  life  by  anointing  his  linen 
with  poisonous  materials,  and  by  constructing 
figures  of  clay,  to  be  wasted  and  tormented  after  the 
usual  fashion  of  necromancy. 

Among  her  associates  was  an  unhappy  lady  of 
much  higher  degree.  This  was  Dame  Euphane  Mac- 
Calzean,  the  widow  of  a  Senator  of  the  College  of 
Justice,  and  a  person  infinitely  above  the  rank  of  the 
obscure  witches  with  whom  she  was  joined  in  her 
crime.  Mr.  Pitcairn  supposes,  that  this  connexion 
may  have  risen  from  her  devotion  to  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  her  friendship  for  the  Earl  of  Bothwell. 

The  third  person  in  this  singular  league  of  sor¬ 
cerers  was  Doctor  John  Fian,  otherwise  Cunning- 
hame,  who  was  schoolmaster  at  Tranent,  and  en¬ 
joyed  much  hazardous  reputation  as  a  warlock. 
This  man  was  made  the  hero  of  the  whole  tale  of 
necromancy,  in  an  account  of  it  published  at  Lon¬ 
don,  and  entitled,  “  News  from  Scotland,”  which  has 
been  lately  reprinted  by  the  Roxburghe  Club.  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  Scottish  witchcrafts  were  not 
thought  sufficiently  horrible  by  the  editor  of  this 
act,  without  adding  to  them  the  story  of  a  filter 


264 


LETTERS  ON 


being  applied  to  a  cow’s  hair  instead  of  that  of  the 
young  woman  for  whom  it  was  designed,  and  telling 
how  the  animal  came  lowing  after  the  sorcerer  to 
his  school-room  door,  like  a  second  Pasiphae,  the 
original  of  which  charm  occurs  in  the  story  of  Apu- 
leius.* 

Besides  these  persons,  there  was  one  Barbara  Na¬ 
pier,  alias  Douglas,  a  person  of  some  rank ;  Geillis 
Duncan,  a  very  active  witch,  and  about  thirty  other 
poor  creatures  of  the  lowest  condition, — among  the 
rest,  and  doorkeeper  to  the  conclave,  a  silly  old 
ploughman,  called  as  his  nickname  Graymeal,  who 
was  cuffed  by  the  Devil  for  saying  simply,  “God 
bless  the  king !” 

When  the  monarch  of  Scotland  sprung  this  strong 
covey  of  his  favourite  game,  they  afforded  the 
Privy  Council  and  him  sport  for  the  greatest  part  of 
the  remaining  winter.  He  attended  on  the  examina¬ 
tions  himself,  and  by  one  means  or  other,  they  were 
indifferently  well  dressed  to  his  palate. 

Agnes  Sampson,  the  grave  matron  before  men¬ 
tioned,  after  being  an  hour  tortured  by  the  twisting 
of  a  cord  around  her  head,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  Bucaniers,  confessed  that  she  had  consulted 
with  one  Richard  Grahame  concerning  the  probable 
length  of  the  king’s  life,  and  the  means  of  shorten¬ 
ing  it.  But  Satan,  to  whom  they  at  length  resorted 
for  advice,  told  them  in  French  respecting  King 
James,  II  est  un  homme  de  Dieu.  The  poor  woman 
also  acknowledged  that  she  had  held  a  meeting  with 
those  of  her  sisterhood,  who  had  charmed  a  cat  by 
certain  spells,  having  four  joints  of  men  knit  to  its 
feet,  which  they  threw  into  the  sea  to  excite  a  tem¬ 
pest.  Another  frolic  they  had,  when,  like  the  weird 
sisters  in  Macbeth,  they  embarked  in  sieves  with 
much  mirth  and  jollity,  the  Fiend  rolling  himself 
before  them  upon  the  waves,  dimly  seen,  and  resent- 


*  Luc ii  JJpuldi,  Metamorphoses,  lib.  ili. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  265 

bling  a  huge  haystack  in  size  and  appearance.  They 
went  on  board  of  a  foreign  ship  richly  laden  with 
wines,  where,  invisible  to  the  crew,  they  feasted  till 
the  sport  grew  tiresome,  and  then  Satan  sunk  the 
vessel  and  all  on  board. 

Fian,  or  Cunninghame,  was  also  visited  by  the 
sharpest  tortures,  ordinary  and  extraordinary.  The 
nails  were  torn  from  his  fingers  with  smiths’ pincers; 
pins  were  driven  into  the  places  which  the  nails 
usually  defended;  his  knees  were  crushed  in  the 
hoots ,  his  finger-bones  were  splintered  in  the  pil- 
nie  winks.  At  length  his  constancy,  hitherto  sus¬ 
tained,  as  the  bystanders  supposed,  by  the  help  of 
the  Devil,  was  fairly  overcome,  and  he  gave  an  ac¬ 
count  of  a  great  witch-meeting  at  North  Berwick, 
where  they  paced  round  the  church  withershinns, 
that  is  in  reverse  of  the  motion  of  the  sun.  Fian 
then  blew  into  the  lock  of  the  church-door,  where¬ 
upon  the  bolts  gave  away,  the  unhallowed  crew  en¬ 
tered,  and  their  master  the  Devil  appeared  to  his 
servants  in  the  shape  of  a  black  man  occupying  the 
pulpit.  He  was  saluted  with  an  “  Hail,  Master !” 
but  the  company  were  dissatisfied  with  his  not  ha¬ 
ving  brought  a  picture  of  the  king,  repeatedly  pro¬ 
mised,  which  was  to  place  his  majesty  at  the  mercy 
of  this  infernal  crew.  The  Devil  was  particularly 
upbraided  on  this  subject  by  divers  respectable-looking 
females, — no  question,  Euphane  MacCalzean,  Bar¬ 
bara  Napier,  Agnes  Sampson,  and  some  other  ama¬ 
teur  witch  above  those  of  the  ordinary  profession. 
The  Devil,  on  this  memorable  occasion,  forgot  him¬ 
self,  and  called  Fian  by  his  own  name,  instead  of 
the  demoniacal  sobriquet  of  Rob  the  Rowar,  which 
had  been  assigned  to  him  as  Master  of  the  Rows,  or 
Rolls.  This  was  considered  as  bad  taste,  and  the 
rule  is  still  observed  at  every  rendezvous  of  forgers, 
smugglers,  or  the  like,  where  it  is  accounted  very 
indifferent  manners  to  name  an  individual  by  his 
own  name,  in  case  of  affording  ground  of  evidence 

Z 


266 


LETTERS  ON 


which  may  upon  a  day  of  trial  be  brought  against 
him.  Satan,  something  disconcerted,  concluded 
the  evening  with  a  divertisement  and  a  dance  after 
his  own  manner.  The  former  consisted  in  disin¬ 
terring  a  new  buried  corpse,  and  dividing  it  in  frag¬ 
ments  among  the  company,  and  the  bail  was  main¬ 
tained  by  well-nigh  two  hundred  persons,  who 
danced  a  ring  dance,  singing  this  chant — 

“  Cummer,  gang  ye  before;  Cummer,  gang  ye. 

Gif  ye  will  not  gang  before,  Cummers,  let  me.” 

After  this  choral  exhibition,  the  music  seems  to 
have  been  rather  imperfect,  the  number  of  dancers 
considered.  Geillis  Duncan  was  the  only  instru¬ 
mental  performer,  and  she  played  on  a  Jew’s  harp, 
called  in  Scotland  a  trump.  Dr.  Fian,  muffled,  led 
the  ring,  and  was  highly  honoured,  generally  acting 
as  clerk  or  recorder,  as  above  mentioned. 

King  James  was  deeply  interested  in  those  mys¬ 
terious  meetings,  and  took  great  delight  to  be  pre¬ 
sent  at  the  examinations  of  the  accused.  He  sent 
for  Geillis  Duncan,  and  caused  her  to  play  before 
him  the  same  tune  to  which  Satan  and  his  com¬ 
panions  led  the  brawl  in  North  Berwick  church¬ 
yard.*  His  ears  were  gratified  in  another  way,  for 
at  this  meeting  it  was  said  the  witches  demanded  of 
the  Devil  why  he  did  bear  such  enmity  against 
the  king?  who  returned  the  flattering  answer,  that 
the  king  was  the  greatest  enemy  whom  he  had  in 
the  world. 

Almost  all  these  poor  wretches  were  executed, 
nor  did  Euphane  MacCalzean’s  station  in  life  save 
ner  from  the  common  doom,  which  was  strangling 
.o  death,  and  burning  to  ashes  thereafter.  The 
majority  of  the  jury  which  tried  Barbara  Napier, 

*  The  music  of  this  witch  tune  is  unhappily  lost.  But  that  of  are- 
ether,  believed  to  have  been  popular  on  such  occasions,  is  preserved 
The  silly  bit  chicken,  gar  cast  her  a  pickle 
And  she  will  grow  mickle, 

And  she  will  do  good. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  267 

having  acquitted  her  of  attendance  at  the  North 
Berwick  meeting,  were  themselves  threatened  with 
a  trial  for  wilful  error  upon  an  assize,  and  could  only 
escape  from  severe  censure  and  punishment  by 
pleading  Guilty,  and  submitting  themselves  to  the 
king’s  pleasure.  This  rigorous  and  iniquitous  con¬ 
duct  shows  a  sufficient  reason  why  there  should  be 
so  few  acquittals  from  a  charge  of  witchci  aft,  where 
the  juries  were  so  much  at  the  mercy  of  the  crown. 

It  would  be  disgusting  to  follow  the  numerous 
cases  in  which  the  same  uniform  credulity,  the  same 
extorted  confessions,  the  same  prejudiced  and  exag¬ 
gerated  evidence,  concluded  in  the  same  tragedy  at 
the  stake  and  the  pile.  The  alterations  and  trench¬ 
ing  which  lately  took  place  for  the  purpose  of  im¬ 
proving  the  Castlehill  of  Edinburgh,  displayed  the 
ashes  of  the  numbers  who  had  perished  in  this  man¬ 
ner,  of  whom  a  large  proportion  must  have  been 
executed  between  1590,  when  the  great  discovery 
was  made  concerning  Euphane  MacCalzean  and  the 
Wise  Wife  of  Keith,  and  their  accomplices,  and  the 
union  of  the  crowns. 

Nor  did  King  James’s  removal  to  England  soften 
this  horrible  persecution.  In  Sir  Thomas  Hamilton’s 
Minutes  of  Proceedings  in  the  Privy  Council,  there 
occurs  a  singular  entry,  evincing  plainly  that  the 
Earl  of  Mar  and  others  of  James’s  Council,  were  be¬ 
coming  fully  sensible  of  the  desperate  iniquity  and 
inhumanity  of  these  proceedings.  I  have  modernized 
the  spelling,  that  this  appalling  record  may  be  legible 
to  all  my  readers. 

“  1608,  December  1.  The  Earl  of  Mar  declared 
to  the  Council,  that  some  women  were  taken  in 
Broughton  as  witches,  and  being  put  to  an  assize, 
and  convicted,  albeit  they  persevered  constant  in 
their  denial  to  the  end,  yet  they  were  burned  quick 
[alive],  after  such  a  cruel  manner,  that  some  of  them 
died  in  despair,  renouncing  and  blaspheming  [God]; 


268 


LETTERS  ON 


and  others,  half  burned,  brake  out  of  the  fire,*  and 
were  cast  quick  in  it  again,  till  they  were  burned  to 
the  death.” 

This  singular  document  shows,  that  even  in  the 
reign  of  James,  so  soon  as  his  own  august  person 
was  removed  from  Edinburgh,  his  dutiful  Privy 
Council  began  to  think  that  they  had  supped  full 
with  horrors,  and  were  satiated  with  the  excess  of 
cruelty,  which  dashed  half-consumed  wretches  back 
into  the  flames  from  which  they  were  striving  to 
escape. 

But  the  picture,  however  much  it  may  have  been 
disgusting  and  terrifying  to  the  Council  at  the  time, 
and  though  the  intention  of  the  entry  upon  the  re¬ 
cords  was  obviously  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
such  horrid  cruelties  in  future,  had  no  lasting  effect 
on  the  course  of  justice,  as  the  severities  against 
witches  were  most  unhappily  still  considered  neces¬ 
sary.  Through  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  little  abate¬ 
ment  in  the  persecution  of  this  metaphysical  crime 
of  witchcraft  can  be  traced  in  the  kingdom.  Even 
while  the  Independents  held  the  reins  of  govern¬ 
ment,  Cromwell  himself,  and  his  major-generals  and 
substitutes  were  obliged  to  please  the  common  people 
of  Scotland  by  abandoning  the  victims  accused  of 
witchcraft  to  the  power  of  the  law,  though  the 
journals  of  the  time  express  the  horror  and  disgust 
with  which  the  English  sectarians  beheld  a  practice 
so  inconsistent  with  their  own  humane  principle  of 
universal  toleration. 

Instead  of  plunging  into  a  history  of  these  events, 
which,  generally  speaking,  are  in  detail  as  mono- 


*  I  am  obliged  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Pitcairn  for  this  singular  ex¬ 
tract. — The  southern  reader  must  be  informed,  that  the  jurisdiction  or 
regality  of  Broughton  embraced  Holyrood,  Canongate,  Leith,  and  other 
suburban  parts  of  Edinburgh,  and  bore  the  same  relation  to  that  city  as 
the  borough  of  Southwark  to  London. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


269 


tonous  as  they  are  melancholy,  it  may  amuse  the 
reader  to  confine  the  narrative  to  a  single  trial,  having 
in  the  course  of  it  some  peculiar  and  romantic 
events.  It  is  the  tale  of  a  sailor’s  wife,  more  tragic  in 
its  event  than  that  ofthe  chesnut-muncher  inMacbeth.* 

Margaret  Barclay,  wife  of  Archibald  Dein,  burgess 
of  Irvine,  had  been  slandered  by  her  sister-in-law, 
Janet  Lyal,  the  spouse  of  John  Dein,  brother  of 
Archibald,  and  by  John  Dein  himself,  as  guilty  of 
some  act  of  theft.  Upon  this  provocation  Margaret 
Barclay  raised  an  action  of  slander  before  the  church 
court,  which  prosecution,  after  some  procedure,  the 
kirk-session  discharged,  by  directing  a  reconciliation 
between  the  parties.  Nevertheless,  although  the 
two  women  shook  hands  before  the  court,  yet  the 
said  Margaret  Barclay  declared  that  she  gave  her 
hand  only  in  obedience  to  the  kirk-session,  but  that 
she  still  retained  her  hatred  and  ill-will  against  Jolm 
Dein  and  his  wife  Janet  Lyal.  About  this  time  the 
bark  of  John  Dein  was  about  to  sail  for  France,  and 
Andrew  Train,  or  Tran,  Provost  of  the  burgh  of 
Irvine,  who  was  an  owner  of  the  vessel,  went  with 
him  to  superintend  the  commercial  part  of  the  voy¬ 
age.  Two  other  merchants  of  some  consequence 
went  in  the  same  vessel,  with  a  sufficient  number 
of  mariners.  Margaret  Barclay,  the  revengeful  per¬ 
son  already  mentioned,  was  heard  to  imprecate 
curses  upon  the  provost’s  argosy,  praying  to  God 
that  sea  nor  salt-water  might  never  bear  the  ship, 
and  that  partans  (crabs)  might  eat  the  crew  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea. 

When,  under  these  auspices,  the  ship  was  absent 
on  her  voyage,  a  vagabond  fellow,  named  John 
Stewart,  pretending  to  have  knowledge  of  jugglery, 
and  to  possess  the  power  of  a  spaeman,  came  to  the 
residence  of  Tran,  the  provost,  and  dropped  explicit 

v 

*  A  copy  of  the  record  of  the  trial  which  took  place  in  Ayrshire 
was  sent  to  me  by  a  friend,  who  withheld  his  name,  so  that  I  can  only 
thank  him  in  this  general  acknowledgment. 

Z  2 


270 


LETTERS  ON 


hints  that  the  ship  was  lost,  and  that  the  good 
woman  of  the  house  was  a  widow.  The  sad  truth 
was  afterward  learned  on  more  certain  information. 
Two  of  the  seamen,  after  a  space  of  doubt  and 
anxiety,  arrived  with  the  melancholy  tidings  that 
the  bark,  of  which  John  Dein  was  skipper,  and 
Provost  Tran  part  owner,  had  been  wrecked  on  the 
coast  of  England,  near  Padstow,  when  all  on  board 
nad  been  lost,  except  the  two  sailors  who  brought 
the  notice.  Suspicion  of  sorcery,  in  those  days 
easily* awakened,  was  fixed  on  Margaret  Barclay, 
who  had  imprecated  curses  on  the  ship ;  and  on  John 
Stewart,  the  juggler,  who  had  seemed  to  know  of 
the  evil  fate  of  the  voyage  before  he  could  have 
become  acquainted  with  it  by  natural  means. 

Stewart,  who  was  first  apprehended,  acknow¬ 
ledged  that  Margaret  Barclay,  the  other  suspected 
person,  had  applied  to  him  to  teach  lier  some  magic 
arts,  “  in  order  that  she  might  get  gear,  kyes  milk, 
love  of  man,  her  heart’s  desire  on  such  persons  as 
had  done  her  wrong,  and,  finally,  that  she  might 
obtain  the  fruit  of  sea  and  land.”  Stewart  declared 
that  he  denied  to  Margaret  that  he  possessed  the 
said  arts  himself,  or  had  the  power  of  communi¬ 
cating  them.  So  far  was  well ;  but,  true  or  false, 
he  added  a  string  of  circumstances,  whether  volun¬ 
tarily  declared  or  extracted  by  torture,  which  tended 
to  fix  the  cause  of  the  loss  of  the  bark  on  Margaret 
Barclay.  He  had  come,  he  said,  to  this  woman’s 
house  in  Irvine,  shortly  after  the  ship  set  sail  from 
harbour.  He  went  to  Margaret’s  house  by  night, 
and  found  her  engaged,  with  other  two  women,  in 
making  clay  figures ;  one  of  the  figures  was  made 
handsome,  with  fair  hair,  supposed  to  represent 
Provost  Tran.  They  then  proceeded  to  mould  a 
figure  of  a  ship  in  clay,  and  during  this  labour  the 
Devil  appeared  to  the  company  in  the  shape  of  a 
handsome  black  lap-dog,  such  as  ladies  use  to  keep.* 


*  This  may  remind  the  reader  of  Cazotte’s  Viable  Amoureuz. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  271 

He  added,  that  the  whole  party  left  the  house  to¬ 
gether,  and  went  into  an  empty  wastehouse  nearer 
the  seaport,  which  house  he  pointed  out  to  the  city 
magistrates.  From  this  house  they  went  to  the 
seaside,  followed  by  the  blaek  lap-dog  aforesaid, 
and  cast  in  the  figures  of  clay  representing  the  ship 
and  the  men ;  after  which  the  sea  raged,  roared,  and 
became  red  like  the  juice  of  madder  in  a  dier’s 
caldron. 

This  confession  having  been  extorted  from  the  un¬ 
fortunate  juggler,  the  female  acquaintances  of  Mar¬ 
garet  Barclay  were  next  convened,  that  he  might 
point  out  her  associates  in  forming  the  charm,  when 
he  pitched  upon  a  woman  called  Isobel  Insh,  or  Tay¬ 
lor,  who  resolutely  denied  having  ever  seen  him  be¬ 
fore.  She  was  imprisoned,  however,  in  the  belfry 
of  the  church.  An  addition  to  the  evidence  against 
the  poor  old  woman  Insh  was  then  procured  from 
her  own  daughter,  Margaret  Tailzeour,  a  child  of 
eight  years  old,  who  lived  as  servant  with  Margaret 
Barclay,  the  person  principally  accused.  This  child, 
who  was  keeper  of  a  baby  belonging  to  Margaret 
Barclay,  either  from  terror,  or  the  innate  love  of 
falsehood,  which  we  have  observed  as  proper  to  child¬ 
hood,  declared,  that  she  was  present  when  the  fatal 
models  of  clay  were  formed,  and  that  in  plunging 
them  in  the  sea,  Margaret  Barclay  her  mistress,  and 
her  mother  Isobel  Insh,  were  assisted  by  another  wo¬ 
man,  and  a  girl  of  fourteen  years  old,  who  dwelt  at 
the  town-head.  Legally  considered,  the  evidence  of 
this  child  was  contradictory,  and  inconsistent  witli 
the  confession  of  the  juggler,  for  it  assigned  other 
particulars  and  dramatis  personae  in  many  respects 
different.  But  all  was  accounted  sufficiently  regu¬ 
lar,  especially  since  the  girl  failed  not  to  swear  to 
the  presence  of  the  black  dog,  to  whose  appearance 
she  also  added  the  additional  terrors  of  that  of  a 
black  man.  The  dog  also,  according  to  her  account, 
emitted  flashes  from  its  jaws  and  nostrils,  to  illumi- 


272 


LETTERS  ON 


nate  the  witches  during  the  performance  of  the  spell. 
The  child  maintained  this  story  even  to  her  mother’s 
face,  only  alleging  that  Isobel  Insh  remained  behind 
in  the  wastehouse,  and  was  not  present  when  the 
images  were  put  into  the  sea.  For  her  own  counte¬ 
nance  and  presence  on  the  occasion,  and  to  ensure 
her  secrecy,  her  mistress  promised  her  a  pair  of  new 
shoes. 

John  Stewart,  being  re-examined,  and  confronted 
with  the  child,  was  easily  compelled  to  allow  that 
the  “  little  smatchet”  was  there,  and  to  give  that  mar¬ 
vellous  account  of  his  correspondence  with  Elfland, 
which  we  have  noticed  elsewhere. 

The  conspiracy  thus  far,  as  they  conceived,  dis¬ 
closed,  the  magistrates  and  ministers  wrought  hard 
with  Isobel  Insh,  to  prevail  upon  her  to  tell  the  truth ; 
and  she  at  length  acknowledged  her  presence  at  the 
time  when  the  models  of  the  ship  and  mariners  were 
destroyed,  but  endeavoured  so  to  modify  her  decla¬ 
ration  as  to  deny  all  personal  accession  to  the  guilt. 
This  poor  creature  almost  admitted  the  supernatural 
powers  imputed  to  her,  promising  Bailie  Dunlop  (also 
a  mariner),  by  whom  she  was  imprisoned,  that  if  he 
would  dismiss  her,  he  should  never  make  a  bad  voy¬ 
age,  but  have  success  in  all  his  dealings  by  sea  and 
land.  She  was  finally  brought  to  promise,  that  she 
would  fully  confess  the  whole  that  she  knew  of  the 
affair  on  the  morrow. 

But  finding  herself  in  so  hard  a  strait,  the  unfortu¬ 
nate  woman  made  use  of  the  darkness  to  attempt  an 
escape.  With  this  view  she  got  out  by  a  back  win¬ 
dow  of  the  belfry,  although,  says  the  report,  there 
were  “  iron  bolts,  locks,  and  fetters  on  her and  at¬ 
tained  the  roof  of  the  church,  where,  losing  her  foot¬ 
ing,  she  sustained  a  severe  fall,  and  was  greatly 
bruised.  Being  apprehended,  Bailie  Dunlop  again 
urged  her  to  confess ;  but  the  poor  woman  was  deter¬ 
mined  to  appeal  to  a  more  merciful  tribunal,  and 
maintained  her  innocence  to  the  last  minute  of  he* 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


273 


life,  denying  all  that  she  had  formerly  admitted,  and 
dying  five  days  after  her  fall  from  the  roof  of  the 
church.  The  inhabitants  of  Irvine  attributed  her 
death  to  poison. 

The  scene  began  to  thicken,  for  a  commission 
was  granted  for  the  trial  of  the  two  remaining  per¬ 
sons  accused,  namely,  Stewart  the  juggler,  and  Mar¬ 
garet  Barclay.  The  day  of  trial  being  arrived,  the 
following  singular  events  took  place,  which  we  give 
as  stated  in  the  record : — 

“My  Lord  and  Earl  of  Eglintoune  (who  dwells 
within  the  space  of  one  mile  to  the  said  burgh),  ha¬ 
ving  come  to  the  said  burgh  at  the  earnest  request 
of  the  said  Justices,  for  giving  to  them  of  his  lord- 
ship’s  countenance,  concurrence,  and  assistance,  in 
trying  of  the  foresaid  devilish  practices,  conform  to 
the  tenor  of  the  foresaid  commission,  the  said  John 
Stewart,  for  his  better  preserving  to  the  day  of  the 
assize,  was  put  in  a  sure  lockfast  booth,  where  no 
manner  of  person  might  have  access  to  him  till  the 
downsitting  of  the  Justice  Court,  and  for  avoiding 
of  putting  violent  hands  on  himself,  he  was  very 
strictly  guarded,  and  fettered  by  the  arms,  as  use  is. 
And  upon  that  same  day  of  the  assize,  about  half  an 
hour  before  the  downsitting  of  the  Justice  Court, 
Mr.  David  Dickson,  minister  at  Irvine,  and  Mr. 
George  Dunbar,  minister  of  Air,  having  gone  to  him, 
to  exhort  him  to  call  on  his  God  for  mercy  for  his 
bygone  wicked  and  evil  life,  and  that  God  would  of 
his  infinite  mercy  loose  him  out  of  the  bonds  of  the 
devil,  whom  he  had  served  these  many  years  bygone, 
he  acquiesced  in  their  prayer  and  godly  exhortation, 
and  uttered  these  words :  ‘  I  am  so  straitly  guarded, 
that  it  lies  not  in  my  power  to  get  my  hand  to  take 
off  my  bonnet,  nor  to  get  bread  to  my  mouth.’  And 
immediately  after  the  departing  of  the  two  ministers 
from  him,  the  juggler  being  sent  for  at  the  desire  of 
my  Lord  of  Eglintoune,  to  be  confronted  with  a  wo¬ 
man  of  the  burgh  of  Air,  called  Janet  Bous,  who  was 


274 


LETTERS  ON 


apprehended  by  the  magistrates  of  the  burgh  of  Air 
for  witchcraft,  and  sent  to  the  burgh  of  Irvine  pur¬ 
posely  for  that  affair,  he  was  found  by  the  burgh  offi¬ 
cers  who  went  about  him,  strangled  and  hanged  by 
the  cruilc  of  the  door,  with  a  tait  of  hemp,  or  a  string 
made  of  hemp,  supposed  to  have  been  his  garter,  or 
string  of  his  bonnet,  not  above  the  length  of  two 
span  long,  his  knees  not  being  from  the  ground  half 
a  span,  and  was  brought  out  of  the  house,  his  life 
not  being  totally  expelled.  But,  notwithstanding 
of  whatsoever  means  used  in  the  contrary  for  remeid 
of  his  life,  he  revived  not,  but  so  ended  his  life  mise¬ 
rably,  by  the  help  of  the  Devil  his  master. 

“  And  because  there  was  then  only  in  life  the  said 
Margaret  Barclay,  and  that  the  persons  summoned 
to  pass  upon  her  assize,  and  upon  the  assize  of  the 
juggler,  who,  by  the  help  of  the  Devil  his  master, 
had  put  violent  hands  on  himself,  were  all  present 
within  the  said  burgh ;  therefore,  and  for  eschewing 
of  the  like  in  the  person  of  the  said  Margaret,  our 
sovereign  lord’s  justices  in  that  part,  particularly 
above-named,  constituted  by  commission,  after  so¬ 
lemn  deliberation  and  advice  of  the  said  noble  lord, 
whose  concurrence  and  advice  was  chiefly  required 
and  taken  in  this  matter,  concluded  with  all  possible 
diligence  before  the  downsitting  of  the  Justice 
Court,  to  put  the  said  Margaret  in  torture ;  in  respect 
the  Devil,  by  God’s  permission,  had  made  her  asso¬ 
ciates,  who  were  the  lights  of  the  cause,  to  be  their 
own  burrioes  (slayers).  They  used  the  torture 
underwritten  as  being  most  safe  and  gentle  (as  the 
said  noble  lord  assured  the  said  justices),  by  putting 
of  her  two  bare  legs  in  a  pair  of  stocks,  and  there¬ 
after  by  onlaying  of  certain  iron  gauds  (bars),  seve¬ 
rally,  one  by  one,  and  then  eiking  and  augmenting 
the  weight  by  laying  on  more  gauds  and  in  easing 
of  her  by  offtaking  of  the  iron  g^uds  one  or  more, 
as  occasion  offered,  which  iron  gauds  were  but  little 
short  gauds,  and  broke  not  the  skin  of  her  legs.  &c. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  275 

“  After  using  of  the  which  kind  of  gentle  torture , 
the  said  Margaret  began,  according  to  the  increase 
of  the  pain,  to  cry,  and  crave  for  God’s  cause  to  take 
off  her  shins  the  foresaid  irons,  and  she  should  de¬ 
clare  truly  the  whole  matter.  Which  being  removed, 
she  began  at  her  former  denial :  and  being  of  new 
assayed  in  torture  as  of  befoir,  she  then  uttered  these 
words :  ‘  Take  off,  take  off,  and  before  God  I  shall 
show  you  the  rvhole  form  !’ 

“  And  the  said  irons  being  of  new,  upon  her  faith- 
full  promise,  removed,  she  then  desired  my  Lord  of 
Eglintoune,  the  said  four  justices,  and  the  said  Mr. 
David  Dickson,  minister  of  the  burgh,  Mr.  George 
Dunbar,  minister  of  Ayr,  and  Mr.  Mitchell  Wallace, 
minister  of  Kilmarnock,  and  Mr.  John  Cunninghame- 
minister  of  Dairy,  and  Hugh  Kennedy,  provost  of 
Ayr,  to  come  by  themselves,  and  to  remove  all 
others,  and  she  should  declare  truly,  as  she  should 
answer  lo  God,  the  whole  matter.  Whose  desire  in 
that  being  fulfilled,  she  made  her  confession  in  this 
manner,  but  (t.  e.  without)  any  kind  of  demand, 
freely,  without  interrogation ;  God’s  name  by  earnest 
prayer  being  called  upon  for  opening  of  her  lips,  and 
easing  of  her  heart,  that  she,  by  rendering  of  the 
truth,  might  glorify  and  magnify  his  holy  name,  and 
disappoint  the  enemy  of  her  salvation.” — Trial  of 
Margaret  Barclay,  &rc.,  1618. 

Margaret  Barclay,  who  was  a  young  and  lively 
person,  had  hitherto  conducted  herself  like  a  pas¬ 
sionate  and  high-tempered  woman  innocently  ac¬ 
cused,  and  the  only  appearance  of  conviction  ob¬ 
tained  against  her  was,  that  she  carried  about  her 
rowan-tree  and  coloured  thread,  to  make,  as  she 
said,  her  cow  give  milk,  when  it  began  to  fail.  But 
the  gentle  torture — a  strange  junction  of  words — 
recommended  as  an  anodyne  by  the  good  Lord 
Eglinton — the  placing,  namely,  her  legs  in  the  stocks, 
and  loading  her  bare  shins  with  bars  of  iron,  over¬ 
came  her  resolution;  when,  at  her  screams  and 


276 


COTTERS  ON 


declarations  that  she  was  willing  to  tell  all,  the 
weights  were  removed.  She  then  told  a  story  of 
destroying  the  ship  of  John  Dein,  affirming,  that  it 
was  with  the  purpose  of  killing  only  her  brother-in- 
law  and  Provost  Tran,  and  saving  the  rest  of  the 
crew.  She  at  the  same  time  involved  in  the  guilt 
Isobel  Crawford.  This  poor  woman  was  also  appre¬ 
hended,  and,  in  great  terror,  confessed  the  imputed 
crime,  retorting  the  principal  blame  on  Margaret 
Barclay  herself.  The  trial  was  then  appointed  to 
proceed,  when  Alexander  Dean,  the  husband  of  Mar¬ 
garet  Barclay,  appeared  in  court  with  a  lawyer  to  act 
in  his  wife’s  behalf.  Apparently,  the  sight  of  her 
husband  awakened  some  hope  and  desire  of  life, 
for  Avhen  the  prisoner  was  asked  by  the  lawyer 
whether  she  wished  to  be  defended,  she  answered, 
“As  you  please.  But  all  I  have  confessed  was 
in  agony  of  torture;  and,  before  God,  all  I  have 
spoken  is  false  and  untrue.”  To  which  she  pathe¬ 
tically  added — “  Ye  have  been  too  long  in  coming.” 

The  jury,  unmoved  by  these  affecting  circumstan¬ 
ces,  proceeded  upon  the  principle  that  the  confession 
of  the  accused  could  not  be  considered  as  made 
uuder  the  influence  of  torture,  since  the  bars  were 
not  actually  upon  her  limbs  at  the  time  it  was  deli¬ 
vered,  although  they  were  placed  at  her  elbow  ready 
to  be  again  laid  on  her  bare  shins,  if  she  was  less 
explicit  in  her  declaration  than  her  auditors  wished. 
On  this  nice  distinction,  they  in  one  voice  found 
Margaret  Barclay  guilty.  It  is  singular  that  she 
should  have  again  returned  to  her  confession  after 
sentence,  and  died  affirming  it ; — the  explanation  of 
which,  however,  might  be,  either  that  she  had  really 
in  her  ignorance  and  folly  tampered  with  some  idle 
spells,  or  that  an  apparent  penitence  for  her  offence, 
however  imaginary,  was  the  only  mode  in  which  she 
could  obtain  any  share  of  public  sympathy  at  her 
death,  or  a  portion  of  the  prayers  of  the  clergy  and 
congregation,  which,  in  her  circumstances,  she 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  277 

might  be  willing  to  purchase,  even  by  confession  of 
what  all  believed  respecting  her.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  she  earnestly  entreated  the  magistrates  that 
no  harm  should  be  done  to  Isobel  Crawford,  the 
woman  whom  she  had  herself  accused.  This  un¬ 
fortunate  young  creature  was  strangled  at  the  stake, 
and  her  body  burned  to  ashes*  having  died  with  many 
expressions  of  religion  and  penitence. 

It  was  one  fatal  consequence  of  these  cruel  per¬ 
secutions,  that  one  pile  was  usually  lighted  at  the 
embers  of  another.  Accordingly,  in  the  present  case, 
three  victims  having  already  perished  by  this^iccusa- 
tion,  the  magistrates,  incensed  at  the  nature  of  the 
crime,  so  perilous  as  it  seemed  to  men  of  a  maritime 
life,  and  at  a  loss  of  several  friends  of  their  own,  one 
of  whom  had  been  their  principal  magistrate,  did  not 
forbear  to  insist  against  Isobel  Crawford,  inculpated 
by  Margaret  Barclay’s  confession.  A  new  commis¬ 
sion  was  granted  for  her  trial,  and  after  the  assistant 
minister  of  Irvine,  Mr.  David  Dickson,  had  made 
earnest  prayers  to  God  for  opening  her  obdurate  and 
closed  heart,  she  was  subjected  to  the  torture  of 
iron  bars  laid  upon  her  bare  shins,  her  feet  being  in 
the  stocks,  as  in  the  case  of  Margaret  Barclay. 

She  endured  this  torture  with  incredible  firmness, 
since  she  did  “  admirably,  without  any  kind  of  din 
or  exclamation,  suffer  above  thirty  stone  of  iron  to 
be  laid  on  her  legs,  never  shrinking  thereat  in  any 
sort,  but  remaining,  as  it  were,  steady.”  But  in 
shifting  the  situation  of  the  iron  bars,  and  removing 
them  to  another  part  of  her  shins,  her  constancy  gave 
way ;  she  broke  out  into  horrible  cries  (though  not 
more  than  three  bars  were  then  actually  on  her  per¬ 
son)  of — “  Tak  aff — tak  aff !”  On  being  relieved  from 
the  torture,  she  made  the  usual  confession  of  all  that 
she  was  charged  with,  and  of  a  connexion  with  the 
Devil  which  had  subsisted  for  several  years.  Sen¬ 
tence  was  given  against  her  accordingly.  After  this 
had  been  denounced,  she  openly  denied  all  her  former 

A  a 


278 


LETTERS  ON 


confessions,  and  died  without  any  sign  of  repent 
ance,  offering  repeated  interruptions  to  the  minister 
in  his  prayer,  and  absolutely  refusing  to  pardon  the 
executioner. 

This  tragedy  happened  in  the  year  1613,  and  re¬ 
corded  as  it  is  very  particularly,  and  at  considerable 
length,  forms  the  most  detailed  specimen  I  have  met 
with,  of  a  Scottish  trial  for  witchcraft, — illustrating, 
in  particular,  how  poor  wretches,  abandoned,  as  they 
conceived,  by  God  and  the  world,  deprived  of  all 
human  sympathy,  and  exposed  to  personal  tortures 
of  an  acute  description,  became  disposed  to  throw 
away  the  lives  that  were  rendered  bitter  to  them,  by 
a  voluntary  confession  of  guilt,  rather  than  struggle 
hopelessly  against  so  many  evils.  Four  persons  here 
lost  their  lives,  merely  because  the  throwing  some 
clay  models  into  the  sea,  a  fact  told  differently  by  the 
witnesses  who  spoke  of  it,  corresponded  with  the 
season,  for  no  day  was  fixed,  in  which  a  particular 
vessel  was  lost.  It  is  scarce  possible  that,  after 
reading  such  a  story,  a  man  of  sense  can  listen  for  an 
instant  to  the  evidence  founded  on  confessions  thus 
obtained,  which  has  been  almost  the  sole  reason  by 
which  a  few  individuals,  even  in  modem  times,  have 
endeavoured  to  justify  a  belief  in  the  existence  of 
witchcraft. 

The  result  of  the  judicial  examination  of  a  crimi¬ 
nal,  when  extorted  by  such  means,  is  the  most  suspi¬ 
cious  of  all  evidence,  and  even  when  voluntarily 
given,  is  scarce  admissible  without  the  corroboration 
of  other  testimony. 

We  might  here  take  leave  of  our  Scottish  history 
of  witchcraft,  by  barely  mentioning  that  many  hun¬ 
dreds,  nay  perhaps  thousands,  lost  their  lives  during 
two  centuries,  on  such  charges  and  such  evidence  as 
proved  the  death  of  those  persons  in  the  trial  of  the 
Irvine  witches.  One  case,  however,  is  so  much  dis¬ 
tinguished  by  fame  among  the  numerous  instances 
which  occurred  in  Scottish  history,  that  we  are 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  279 

under  the  necessity  of  bestowing  a  few  words 
upon  those  celebrated  persons,  Major  Wier  and  his 
sister. 

The  case  of  this  notorious  wizard  was  remarkable 
chiefly  from  his  being  a  man  of  some  condition  (the 
son  of  a  gentleman,  and  his  mother  a  lady  of  family 
in  Clydesdale),  which  was  seldom  the  case  with  those 
that  fell  under  similar  accusations.  It  was  also  re¬ 
markable  in  his  case  that  he  had  been  a  Covenanter, 
and  peculiarly  attached  to  that  cause.  In  the  years 
of  the  Commonwealth,  this  man  was  trusted  and  em¬ 
ployed  by  those  who  were  then  at  the  head  of  affairs, 
and  was,  in  1 649,  commander  of  the  city-guard  of  Edin¬ 
burgh,  which  procured  him  his  title  of  Major.  In  this 
capacity  he  was  understood,  as  was  indeed  implied  in 
the  duties  of  that  officer  at  the  period,  to  be  very  strict 
in  executing  severity  upon  such  Royalists  as  fell  under 
his  military  charge.  It  appears  that  the  Major,  with  a 
maiden  sister  who  had  kept  his  house,  was  subject  to 
fits  of  melancholic  lunacy,  an  infirmity  easily  recon¬ 
cilable  with  the  formal  pretences  which  he  made  to 
a  high  show  of  religious  zeal.  He  was  peculiar  in 
his  gift  of  prayer,  and  as  was  the  custom  of  the 
period,  was  often  called  to  exercise  this  talent  by  the 
bedside  of  sick  persons,  until  it  came  to  be  observed, 
that,  by  some  association,  which  it  was  more' easy 
to  conceive  than  to  explain,  he  could  not  pray  with 
the  same  warmth  and  fluency  of,  expression,  unless 
he  had  in  his  hand  a  stick  of  peculiar  shape  and  ap¬ 
pearance,  which  he  generally  \\%lked  with.  It  was 
noticed,  in  short,  that  when  this  stick  was  taken  from 
him,  his  wit  and  talent  appeared  to  forsake  him. 
This  Major  Wier  was  seized  by  the  magistrates  on  a 
strange  whisper  that  became  current  respecting  vile 
practices,  which  he  seems  to  have  admitted  without 
either  shame  or  contrition.  The  disgusting  profli¬ 
gacies  which  he  confessed,  were  of  such  a  character, 
that  it  may  be-  charitably  hoped  that  most  of  them 
were  the  fruits  of  a  depraved  imagination,  though  he 


280 


LETTERS  ON 


appears  to  have  been  in  many  respects  a  wicked  and 
criminal  hypocrite.  When  he  had  completed  his 
confession,  he  avowed  solemnly  that  he  had  not  con¬ 
fessed  the  hundredth  part  of  the  crimes  which  he 
had  committed.  From  this  time  he  would  answer 
no  interrogatory,  nor  would  he  have  recourse  to 
prayer,  arguing,  that  as  he  had  no  hope  whatever  of 
escaping  Satan,  there  was  no  need  of  incensing  him 
by  vain  efforts  at  repentance.  His  witchcraft  seems 
to  have  been  taken  for  granted  on  his  own  confes¬ 
sion  ;  as  his  endictment  was  chiefly  founded  on  the 
same  document,  in  which  he  alleged  he  had  never 
seen  the  Devil,  but  any  feeling  he  had  of  him  was  in 
the  dark.  He  received  sentence  of  death,  which  he 
suffered  12th  April,  1670,  at  the  Gallow-hill,  between 
Leith  and  Edinburgh.  He  died  so  stupidly  sullen 
and  impenitent,  as  to  justify  the  opinion  that  he  was 
oppressed  with  a  kind  of  melancholy  frenzy,  the 
consequence  perhaps  of  remorse,  but  such  as  urged 
him  not  to  repent,  but  to  despair.  It  seems  probable 
that  he  was  burned  alive.  His  sister,  with  whom  he 
was  supposed  to  have  had  an  incestuous  connexion, 
was  condemned  also  to  death,  leaving  a  stronger  and 
more  explicit  testimony  of  their  mutual  sins  than 
could  be  extracted  from  the  Major.  She  gave  as 
usual,  some  account  of  her  connexion  with  the  queen 
of  the  fairies,  and  acknowledged  the  assistance  she 
received  from  that  sovereign  in  spinning  an  unusual 
quantity  of  yarn.  Of  her  brother,  she  said,  that  one 
day  a  friend  called*upon  them  at  noonday  with  a 
fiery  chariot,  and  invited  them  to  visit  a  friend  at 
Dalkeith,  and  that  while  there  her  brother  received 
information  of  the  event  of  the  battle  of  Worcester. 
No  one  saw  the  style  of  their  equipage  except  them¬ 
selves.  On  the  scaffold,  this  woman,  determining, 
as  she  said,  to  die  “with  the  greatest  shame  possible,” 
was  with  difficulty  prevented  from  throwing  off  her 
clothes  before  the  people,  and  with  scarce  less  trou¬ 
ble  was  she  flung  from  the  ladder  by  the  executioner. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


281 


Her  last  words  were  in  the  tone  of  the  sect  to  which 
her  brother  had  so  long  affected  to  belong:  “Many,” 
she  said,  “  weep  and  lament  for  a  poor  old  wretch 
like  me ;  but  alas !  few  are  weeping  for  a  broken 
Covenant.” 

The  Scottish  prelatists,  upon  whom  the  Covenant¬ 
ers  used  to  throw  many  aspersions  respecting  their 
receiving  proof  against  shot  from  the  Devil,  and 
other  infernal  practices,  rejoiced  to  have  an  oppor¬ 
tunity,  in  their  turn,  to  retort  on  their  adversaries  the 
charge  of  sorcery.  Dr.  Hickes,  the  author  of  “  The¬ 
saurus  Septentrionalis,”  published  on  the  subject  of 
Major  Weir,  and  the  case  of  Mitchell,  who  fired  at 
the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  his  book  called  “  Ra- 
vaillac  Redivivus,”  written  with  the  unjust  purpose 
of  attaching  to  the  religious  sect  to  which  the  wiz¬ 
ard  and  assassin  belonged  the  charge  of  having  fos¬ 
tered  and  encouraged  the  crimes  they  committed  or 
attempted. 

It  is  certain  that  no  story  of  witchcraft  or  necro¬ 
mancy,  so  many  of  which  occurred  near  and  in 
Edinburgh,  made  such  a  lasting  impression  on  the 
public  mind,  as  that  of  Major  Weir.  The  remains  of 
the  house  in  which  he  and  his  sister  lived  are  still 
shown  at  the  head  of  the  Westbow,  which  as  our 
readers  may  perceive  from  looking  at  the  frontis¬ 
piece,  has  a  gloomy  aspect,  well  suited  for  a  necro¬ 
mancer.  It  was  at  different  times  a  brasier’s  shop, 
and  a  magazine  for  lint,  and  in  my  younger  days 
was  employed  for  the  latter  use  )  but  no  family  would 
inhabit  the  haunted  walls  as  a  residence ;  and  bold 
was  the  urchin  from  the  High-School  who  dared  ap¬ 
proach  the  gloomy  ruin,  at  the  risk  of  seeing  the 
Major’s  enchanted  staff  parading  through  the  old 
apartments,  or  hearing  the  hum  of  the  necromantic 
wheel,  which  procured  for  his  sister  such  a  character 
as  a  spinner.  At  the  time  I  am  writing,  this  last 
fortress  of  superstitious  renown  is  in  the  course  of 
being  destroyed,  in  order  to  the  modem  improve- 

A  a  2 


282 


LETTERS  ON 


ments  now  carrying  on  in  a  quarter  long  thought 
unimprovable. 

As  knowledge  and  learning  began  to  increase,  the 
gentlemen  and  clergy  of  Scotland  became  ashamed 
of  the  credulity  of  their  ancestors,  and  witch  trials, 
although  not  discontinued,  more  seldom  disgrace  our 
records  of  Criminal  Jurisprudence. 

Sir  John  Clerk,  a  scholar  and  an  antiquary,  the 
grandfather  of  the  late  celebrated  John  Clerk  of  El- 
din,  had  the  honour  to  be  among  the  first  to  decline 
acting  as  a  commissioner  on  the  trial  of  a  witch,  to 
which  he  was  appointed  so  early  as  1678,*  alleging, 
dryly,  that  he  did  not  feel  himself  warlock  (that  is, 
conjurer)  sufficient  to  be  a  judge  upon  such  an  in¬ 
quisition.  Allan  Ramsay,  his  friend,  and  who  must 
be  supposed  to  speak  the  sense  of  his  many  respect¬ 
able  patrons,  had  delivered  his  opinion  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  in  the  “  Gentle  Shepherd,”  where  Mause’s  ima¬ 
ginary  witchcraft  constitutes  the  machinery  of  the 
poem. 

Yet  these  dawnings  of  sense  and  humanity  were 
obscured  by  the  clouds  of  the  ancient  superstition  on 
more  than  one  distinguished  occasion.  In  1676,  Sir 
George  Maxwell  of  Pollock,  apparently  a  man  of 
melancholic  and  valetudinary  habits,  believed  him¬ 
self  bewitched  to  death  by  six  witches,  one  man  and 
five  women,  who  were  leagued  for  the  purpose  of 
tormenting  a  clay  image  in  his  likeness.  The  chief 
evidence  on  the  subject  was  a  vagabond  girl,  pre¬ 
tending  to  be  deaf  and  dumb.  But  as  her  imposture 
was  afterward  discovered,  and  herself  punished,  it 
is  reasonably  to  be  concluded  that  she  had  herself 
formed  the  picture  or  image  of  Sir  George,  and  had 
hid  it,  where  it  was  afterward  found,  in  consequence 
of  her  own  information.  In  the  mean  time,  five  of 
the  accused  were  executed ;  and  the  sixth  only  es¬ 
caped  on  account  of  extreme  youth. 


*  Soo  Fcuntainkall's  Decisions,  vol.  i.  p.  15 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  283 

A  still  more  remarkable  case  occurred  at  Paisley, 
in  1697,  where  a  young  girl,  about  eleven  years  of 
age,  daughter  of  John  Shaw  of  Bargarran,  was  the 
principal  evidence.  This  unlucky  damsel,  beginning 
her  practices  out  of  a  quarrel  with  a  maid-servant, 
continued  to  jimitate  a  case  of  possession  so  accu¬ 
rately,  that  no  less  than  twenty  persons  were  con¬ 
demned  upon  her  evidence,  of  whom  five  were  exe¬ 
cuted,  besides  one  John  Reed,  who  hanged  himself 
in  prison,  or,  as  was  charitably  said,  was  strangled  by 
the  Devil  in  person,  lest  he  should  make  disclosures 
to  the  detriment  of  the  service.  But  even  those  who 
believed  in  witchcraft  were  now  beginning  to  open 
their  eyes  to  the  dangers  in  the  present  mode  of 
prosecution.  “  I  own,”  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bell,  in 
his  MS.  Treatise  on  Witchcraft,  “there  has  been 
much  harm  done  to  worthy  and  innocent  persons  in 
the  common  way  of  finding  out  witches,  and  in  the 
means  made  use  of  for  promoting  the  discovery  of 
such  wretches,  and  bringing  them  to  justice ;  so  that 
oftentimes  old  age,  poverty,  features,  and  ill  fame, 
with  such  like  grounds  not  worthy  to  be  represented 
to  a  magistrate,  have  yet  moved  many  to  suspect  and 
defame  their  neighbours,  to  the  unspeakable  preju¬ 
dice  of  Christian  charity;  a  late  instance. whereof 
we  had  in  the  west,  in  the  business  of  the  sorceries 
exercised  upon  the  Laird  of  Bargarran’s  daughter, 
anno  1697,  a  time  when  persons  of  more  goodness 
and  esteem  than  most  of  their  calumniators  were 
defamed  for  witches,  and  which  was  occasioned 
mostly  by  the  forwardness  and  absurd  credulity  of 
diverse  otherwise  worthy  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  some  topping  professors  in  and  about  the  city 
of  Glasgow.”* 

Those  who  doubted  of  the  sense  of  the  law,  or 
reasonableness  of  the  practice,  in  such  cases,  began 


*  Law’s  Memorialls,  edited  by  C.  K  Sharpe,  Esq.,  Prefatory  Notice, 
p.  93. 


284 


LETTERS  ON 


to  take  courage,  and  state  their  objections  boldly.  In 
the  year  1704,  a  frightful  instance  of  popular  bigotry 
occurred  at  Pittenweem.  A  strolling  vagabond,  who 
affected  fits,  laid  an  accusation  of  witchcraft  against 
two  women,  who  were  accordingly  seized  on,  and 
imprisoned  with  the  usual  severities.  One  of  the 
unhappy  creatures,  Janet  Cornfoot  by  name,  escaped 
from  prison,  but  was  unhappily  caught,  and  brought 
back  to  Pittenweem,  where  she  fell  into  the  hands  of 
a  ferocious  mob,  consisting  of  rude  seamen  and 
fishers.  The  magistrates  made  no  attempts  for  her 
rescue,  and  the  crowd  exercised  their  brutal  pleasure 
on  the  poor  old  woman,  pelted  her  with  stones, 
swung  her  suspended  on  a  rope  between  a  ship  and 
the  shore,  and  finally  ended  her  miserable  existence 
by  throwing  a  door  over  her  as  she  lay  exhausted  on 
the  beach,  and  heaping  stones  upon  it  till  she  was 
pressed  to  death.  As  even  the  existing  laws  against 
witchcraft  were  transgresssed  by  this  brutal  riot,  a 
warm  attack  was  made  upon  the  magistrates  and 
ministers  of  the  town,  by  those  who  were  shocked  at 
a  tragedy  of  such  a  horrible  cast.  There  were  an¬ 
swers  published,  in  which  the  parties  assailed  were 
zealously  defended.  The  superior  authorities  were 
expected  to  take  up  the  affair,  but  it  so  happened, 
during  the  general  distraction  of  the  country  con¬ 
cerning  the  Union,  that  the  murder  went  without  the 
investigation  which  a  crime  so  horrid  demanded. 
Still,  however,  it  was  something  gained  that  the 
cruelty  was  exposed  to  the  public.  The  voice  of 
general  opinion  was  now  appealed  to,  and,  in  the 
long  run,  the  sentiments  which  it  advocates  are  com¬ 
monly  those  of  good  sense  and  humanity. 

The  officers  in  the  higher  branches  of  the  law 
.dared  now  assert  their  official  authority,  and  reserve 
ror  their  own  decision  cases  of  supposed  witchcraft, 
which  the  fear  of  public  clamour  had  induced  them 
formerly  to  leave  in  the  hands  of  inferior  judges, 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  285 


operated  upon  by  all  the  prejudices  of  the  country 
and  the  populace. 

In  1718,  the  celebrated  lawyer,  Robert  Dundas,  of 
Arniston,  then  King’s  Advocate,  wrote  a  severe  letter 
of  censure  to  the  Sheriff-depute  of  Caithness,  in  the 
first  place,  as  having  neglected  to  communicate 
officially  certain,  precognitions  which  he  had  led  re¬ 
specting  some  recent  practices  of  witchcraft  in  his 
county.  The  Advocate  reminded  this  local  judge, 
that  the  duty  of  inferior  magistrates,  in  such  cases, 
was  to  advise  with  the  King’s  Counsel,  first,  whether 
they  should  be  made  subject  of  a  trial  or  not ;  and, 
if  so,  before  what  court,  and  in  what  manner,  it 
should  take  place.  He  also  called  the  magistrate’s 
attention  to  a  report,  that  he,  the  Sheriff-depute,  in¬ 
tended  to  judge  in  the  case  himself;  “  a  thing  of  too 
great  difficulty  to  be  tried  without  very  deliberate  ad¬ 
vice,  and  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  an  inferior  court.” 
The  Sheriff-depute  sends,  with  his  apology,  the  pre¬ 
cognition*  of  the  affair,  which  is  one  of  the  most  non¬ 
sensical  in  this  nonsensical  department  of  the  law. 
A  certain  carpenter,  named  William  Montgomery, 
was  so  infested  with  cats,  which,  as  his  servant-maid 
reported,  “  spoke  among  themselves,”  that  he  fell  in 
a  rage  upon  a  party  of  these  animals  which  had 
assembled  in  his  house  at  irregular  hours,  and  be¬ 
tween  his  Highland  arms  of  knife,  dirk,  and  broad¬ 
sword,  and  his  professional  weapon  of  an  axe,  he 
made  such  a  dispersion  that  they  were  quiet  for  the 
night.  In  consequence  of  his  blows,  two  witches 
were  said  to  have  died.  The  case  of  a  third,  named 
Nin-Gilbert,  was  still  rmore  remarkable.  Her  leg 
being  broken,  the  injured  limb  withered,  pined,  and 
finally  fell  off;  on  which  the  hag  was  enclosed  in 
prison,  where  she  also  died :  and  the  question  which 

*  The  precognition  Is  the  record  of  the  preliminary  evidence  on 
which  the  public  officers  charged,  in  Scotland,  with  duties  intrusted 
to  a  grand  jury  in  England,  incur  the  responsibility  of  sending  an 
accused  person  to  trial.  >. 


286 


LETTERS  ON 


remained  was,  whether  any  process  should  be  directed 
against  persons  whom,  in  her  compelled  confession, 
she  had  as  usual,  informed  against.  The  Lord 
Advocate,  as  may  be  supposed,  quashed  all  farther 
procedure. 

In  1720,  an  unlucky  boy,  the  third  son  of  James, 
Lord  Torpichen,  took  it  into  his  head,  under  instruc¬ 
tions,  it  is  said,  from  a  knavish  governor,  to  play  the 
possessed  and  bewitched  person,  laying  the  cause  of 
his  distress  on  certain  old  witches  in  Calder,  near  to 
which  village  his  father  had  his  mansion.  The  women 
were  imprisoned,  and  one  or  two  of  them  died  ;  but 
the  crown  counsel  would  not  proceed  to  trial.  The 
noble  family  also  began  to  see  through  the  cheat. 
The  boy  was  sent  to  sea,  and  though  he  is  said  at  one 
time  to  have  been  disposed  to  try  his  fits  while  on 
board,  when  the  discipline  of  the  navy  proved  too 
severe  for  his  cunning,  in  process  of  time  he  became 
a  good  sailor,  assisted  gallantly  in  defence  of  the  ves¬ 
sel  against  the  pirates  of  Angria,  and  finally  was 
drowned  in  a  storm. 

In  the  year  1722,  a  Sheriff-depute  of  Sutherland, 
Captain  David  Ross  of  Littledean,  took  it  upon  him, 
in  flagrant  violation  of  the  then  established  rules  of 
jurisdiction,  to  pronounce  the  last  sentence  of  death 
for  witchcraft  which  was  ever  passed  in  Scotland. 
The  victim  was  an  insane  old  woman  belonging  to 
the  parish  of  Loth,  who  had  so  little  idea  of  her  situ¬ 
ation  as  to  rejoice  at  the  sight  of  the  fire  which  was 
destined  to  consume  her.  She  had  a  daughter  lame 
both  of  hands  and  feet,  a  circumstance  attributed  to 
the  witch’s  having  been  used  to  transform  her  into  a 
pony,  and  get  her  shod  by  the  Devil.  It  does  not 
appear  that  any  punishment  was  inflicted  for  this 
cruel  abuse  of  the  law  on  the  person  of  a  creature  so 
helpless ;  but  the  son  of  the  lame  daughter,  he  him¬ 
self  distinguished  by  the  same  misfortune,  was  living 
so  lately  as  to  receive  the  charity  of  the  present 
Marchioness  of  Stafford,  Countess  of  Sutherland  in 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


287 


her  own  right,  to  whom  the  poor  of  Her  extensive 
country  are  as  well  known  as  those  of  the  higher 
order. 

Since  this  deplorable  action,  there  has  been  no 
judicial  interference  in  Scotland  on  account  of 
witchcraft,  unless  to  prevent  explosions  of  popular 
enmity  against  people  suspected  of  such  a  crime,  of 
which  some  instances  could  be  produced.  The  re¬ 
mains  of  the  superstition  sometimes  occur ;  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  vulgar  are  still  addicted  to 
the  custom  of  scoring  above  the  breath*  (as  it  is 
termed),  and  other  counter-spells,  evincing  that  the 
belief  in  witchcraft  is  only  asleep,  and  might  in  re¬ 
mote  corners  be  awakened  to  deeds  of  blood.  An 
instance  or  two  may  be  quoted,  chiefly  as  facts 
known  to  the  author  himself. 

In  a  remote  part  of  the  Highlands,  an  ignorant  and 
malignant  woman  seems  really  to  have  meditated 
the  destruction  of  her  neighbour’s  property,  by 
placing  in  a  cowhouse,  or  byre,  as  we  call  it,  a  pot 
of  baked  clay,  containing  locks  of  hair,  parings  of 
nails,  and  other  trumpery.  This  precious  spell  was 
discovered,  the  design  conjectured,  and  the  witch 
would  have  been  torn  to  pieces,  had  not  a  high-spi¬ 
rited  and  excellent  lady  in  the  neighbourhood  ga¬ 
thered  some  of  her  people  (though  these  were  not 
very  fond  of  the  service),  and  by  main  force  taken 
the  unfortunate  creature  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
populace.  The  formidable  spell  is  now  in  my  pos¬ 
session. 

About  two  years  since,  as  they  were  taking  down 
the  walls  of  a  building  formerly  used  as  a  feeding- 
house  for  cattle,  in  the  town  of  Dalkeith,  there  was 
found  below  the  threshold-stone  the  withered  heart 
of  some  animal,  stuck  full  of  many  scores  of  pins ; 
— a  counter-charm,  according  to  tradition,  against 

*  Drawing  blood,  that  is,  by  two  cuts  in  the  form  of  a  cross  on  the 
witch’s  forehead,  confided  in  all  throughout  Scotland  as  the  most  pow¬ 
erful  counter  charm. 


288 


LETTERS  ON 


the  operations  of  witchcraft  on  the  cattle  which  are 
kept  within.  Among  the  almost  innumerable  droves 
of  bullocks  which  come  down  every  year  from  the 
Highlands  for  the  south,  there  is  scarce  one  but  has 
a  curious  knot  upon  his  tail,  which  is  also  a  precau-- 
tion,  lest  an  evil  eye,  or  an  evil  spell,  may  do  the 
animal  harm. 

The  last  Scottish  story  with  which  I  will  trouble 
you,  happened  in  or  shortly  after  the  year  1800,  and 
the  whole  circumstances  are  well  known  to  me. 
The  dearth  of  the  years  in  the  end  of  the  eighteenth, 
and  beginning  of  this  century,  was  inconvenient  to 
all,  but  distressing  to  the  poor.  A  solitary  old  wo¬ 
man,  in  a  wild  and  lonely  district,  subsisted  chiefly 
by  rearing  chickens,  an  operation  requiring  so  much 
care  and  attention,  that  the  gentry,  and  even  the 
farmers’  wives,  often  find  it  better  to  buy  poultry  at 
a  certain  age,  than  to  undertake  the  trouble  of  bring¬ 
ing  them  up.  As  the  old  woman,  in  the  present  in¬ 
stance,  fought  her  way  through  life  better  than  her 
neighbours,  envy  stigmatized  her  as  having  some  un¬ 
lawful  mode  of  increasing  the  gains  of  her  little 
trade,  and  apparently  she  did  not  take  much  alarm 
at  the  accusation.  But  she  felt,  like  others,  the 
dearth  of  the  years  alluded  to,  and  chiefly  because 
the  farmers  were  unwilling  to  sell  grain  in  the 
very  moderate  quantities  which  she  was  able  to  pur¬ 
chase,  and  without  which,  her  little  stock  of  poultry 
must  have  been  inevitably  starved.  In  distress  on 
this  account,  the  dame  went  to  a  neighbouring  far¬ 
mer,  a  very  good-natured,  sensible,  honest  man,  and 
requested  him,  as  a  favour,  to  sell  her  a  peck  of  oats 
at  any  price.  “  Good  neighbour,”  he  said,  “  I  am 
sorry  to  be  obliged  to  refuse  you,  but  my  corn  is 
measured  out  for  Dalkeith  market;  my  carts  are 
loaded  to  set  out,  and  to  open  these  sacks  again,  and 
for  so  small  a  quantity,  would  cast  my  accounts 
loose,  and  create  much  trouble  and  disadvantage  ;  I 
dare  say  you  will  get  all  you  want  at  such  a  place,  or 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  289 

such  a  place.”  On  receiving  this  answer,  the  old 
woman’s  temper  gave  way.  She  scolded  the  wealthy 
farmer,  and  wished  evil  to  his  property,  which  was 
just  setting  off  for  the  market.  They  parted,  after 
some  angry  language  on  both  sides ;  and  sure  enough, 
as  the  carts  crossed  the  ford  of  the  river  beneath  the 
farm-house,  off  came  the  wheel  from  one  of  them, 
and  five  or  six  sacks  of  com  were  damaged  by  the 
water.  The  good  farmer  hardly  knew  what  to  think 
of  this;  there  were  the  two  circumstances  deemed 
of  old  essential  md  sufficient  to  the  crime  of  witch¬ 
craft — Damnum  minatum,et  malum  secutum. — Scarce 
knowing  what  to  believe,  he  hastened  to  consult  the 
Sheriff  of  the  county,  as  a  friend  rather  than  a  ma¬ 
gistrate,  upon  a  case  so  extraordinary.  The  official 
person  showed  him  that  the  laws  against  witchcraft 
were  abrogated,  and  had  little  difficulty  to  bring  him 
to  regard  the  matter  in  its  true  light  of  an  accident. 

It  is  strange,  but  true,  that  the  accused  herself 
was  not  to  be  reconciled  to  the  sheriff’s  doctrine  so 
easily.  He  reminded  her,  that  if  she  used  her 
tongue  with  so  much  license,  she  must  expose  her¬ 
self  to  suspicions,  and  that  should  coincidences  hap¬ 
pen  to  irritate  her  neighbours,  she  might  suffer  harm 
at  a  time  when  there  was  no  one  to  protect  her.  He 
therefore  requested  her  to  be  more  cautious  in  her 
language  for  her  own  sake,  professing,  at  the  same 
time,  his  belief  that  her  words  and  intentions  rvere 
perfectly  harmless,  and  that  he  had  no  apprehension 
of  being  hurt  by  her,  let  her  wish  her  worst  to  him. 
She  was  rather  more  angry  than  pleased  at  the  well- 
meaning  sheriff’s  skepticism.  “  1  would  be  laith  to 
wish  ony  ill  either  to  you  or  yours,  sir,”  she  said  ; 
“  for  1  kenna  how  it  is,  but  something  aye  comes 
after  my  words  when  I  am  ill-guided,  and  speak 
ower  fast.”  In  short,  she  was  obstinate  in  claiming 
an  influence  over  the  destiny  of  others  by  words  and 
wishes,  which  might  have  in  other  times  conveyed 
her  to  the  sfake;  for  which  her  expressions,  their 

Bb 


290 


LETTERS  ON 


consequences,  and  her  disposition  to  insist  upon 
their  efficacy,  would  certainly  of  old  have  made  her 
a  fit  victim.  At  present,  the  stoiy  is  scarcely  worth 
mentioning,  but  as  it  contains  materials  resembling 
those  out  of  which  many  tragic  incidents  have 
arisen. 

So  low,  in  short,  is  now  the  belief  in  witchcraft, 
that,  perhaps  it  is  only  received  by  those  half-crazy 
individuals  who  feel  a  species  of  consequence  de¬ 
rived  from  accidental  coincidences,  which,  were  they 
received  by  the  community  in  general,  would  go 
near,  as  on  former  occasions,  to  cost  the  lives  of 
those  who  make  their  boast  of  them.  At  least  one 
hypochondriac  patient  is  known  to  the  author,  who 
believes  himself  the  victim  of  a  gang  of  witches, 
and  ascribes  his  illness  to  their  charms,  so  that  he 
wants  nothing  but  an  indulgent  judge  to  awake 
again  the  old  ideas  of  sorcery. 


LETTER  X 


Other  mystic  Arts  independent  of  Witchcraft — Astrology— Its  Influence 
during  the  16th  and  17th  Centuries — Base  Ignorance  of  those  who 
practised  it — Lilly’s  History  of  his  Life  and  Times — Astrologer’s  So¬ 
ciety — Dr.  Lamb — Dr.  Forman — Establishment  of  the  Royal  Society 
— Partridge — Connexion  of  Astrologers  with  elementary  Spirits — Dr. 
Dun — Irish  Superstition  of  the  Banshie — Similar  Superstition  in  the 
Highlands — Brownie — Ghosts — Belief  of  ancient  Philosophers  on  that 
Subject — Inquiry  into  the  Respect  due  to  such  Tales  in  modern  Times 
—Evidence  of  a  Ghost  asainst  a  Murderer — Ghost  of  Sir  George  Vil- 
liers — Story  of  Earl  St.  Vincent — of  a  British  General  Officer — of  an 
Apparition  in  France — of  the  second  Lord  Lyttelton — of  Bill  Jones — 
of  Jarvis  Matcham — Trial  of  two  Highlanders  for  the  Murder  of  Ser¬ 
geant  Davis,  discovered  by  a  Ghost— Disturbances  at  Woodstock, 
Anno  1649 — Imposture  called  the  Stockwell  Ghost — Similar  Case  in 
Scotland — Ghost  appearing  to  an  Exciseman — Story  of  a  distnrbed 
House  discovered  by  the  Firmness  of  the  Proprietor — Apparition  at 
Plymouth — A  Club  of  Philosophers— Ghost  Adventure  of  a  Farmer 
—Trick  upon  a  veteran  Soldier— Ghost  Stories  recommended  by  the 
Skill  of  the  Authors  who  compose  them— Mrs.  Veal’s  Ghost— Dun- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  291 

ton’s  Apparition  Evidence — Effect  of  appropriate  Scenery  to  encou¬ 
rage  a  Tendency  to  Superstition — Differs  at  distant  Periods  of  Life — 
Night  at  Glammis  Castle  about  1791 — Visit  to  Dunvegan  in  1814. 

While  the  vulgar  endeavoured  to  obtain  a  glance 
into  the  darkness  of  futurity  by  consulting  the  witch 
or  fortune-teller,  the  great  were  supposed  to  have  a 
royal  path  of  their  own,  commanding  a  view  from  a 
loftier  quarter  of  the  same  terra  incognita.  This  was 
represented  as  accessible  by  several  routes.  Physi¬ 
ognomy,  Chiromancy,  and  other  fantastic  arts  of 
prediction,  afforded  each  its  mystical  assistance  and 
guidance.  But  the  road  most  flattering  to  human 
vanity,  while  it  was  at  the  same  time  most  seductive 
to  human  credulity,  was  that  of  Astrology,  the  queen 
of  mystic  sciences,  who  flattered  those  who  confided 
in  her,  that  the  planets  and  stars  in  their  spheres  figure 
forth  and  influence  the  fate  of  the  creatures  of  mor¬ 
tality,  and  that  a  sage  acquainted  with  her  lore  could 
predict,  with  some  approach  to  certainty,  the  events 
of  any  man’s  career,  his  chance  of  success  in  life  or 
in  marriage,  his  advance  in  favour  of  the  great,  or 
answer  any  other  horary  questions,  as  they  were 
termed,  which  he  might  be  anxious  to  propound,  pro¬ 
vided  always  he  could  supply  the  exact  moment  of 
his  birth.  This,  in  the  sixteenth,  and  greater  part 
of  the-  seventeenth  centuries,  was  all  that  was  ne¬ 
cessary  to  enable  the  astrologer  to  erect  a  scheme 
of  the  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  which  should 
disclose  the  life  of  the  interrogator,  or  Native,  as  he 
was  called,  with  all  its  changes,  past,  present,  and  to 
come. 

Imagination  was  dazzled  by  a  prospect  so  splen¬ 
did  ;  and  we  find  that,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
cultivation  of  this  fantastic  science  was  the  serious 
object  of  men  whose  understandings  and  acquire¬ 
ments  admit  of  no  question.  Bacon  himself  allowed 
the  truth  which  might  be  found  in  a  well-regulated 
astrology,  making  thus  a  distinction  between  the  art 
as  commonly  practised,  and  the  manner  in  which  it 


292 


LETTERS  ON 


might,  as  he  conceived,  be  made  a  proper  use  of.  But 
a  grave  or  sober  use  of  this  science,  if  even  Bacon 
could  have  taught  such  moderation,  would  not  have 
suited  the  temper  of  those  who,  inflamed  by  hopes 
of  temporal  aggrandizement, pretended  to  understand 
and  explain  to  others  the  language  of  the  stars. 
Almost  all  the  other  paths  of  mystic  knowledge  led 
to  poverty ;  even  the  alchymist,  though  talking  loud 
and  high  of  the  endless  treasures  his  art  was  to  pro¬ 
duce,  lived  from  day  to  day,  and  from  year  to  year, 
upon  hopes  as  unsubstantial  as  the  smoke  of  his  fur¬ 
nace.  But  the  pursuits  of  the  astrologer  were  such 
as  called  for  instant  remuneration.  He  became  rich 
by  the  eager  hopes  and  fond  credulity  of  those  Avho 
consulted  him,  and  that  artist  lived  by  duping  others, 
instead  of  starving,  like  others,  by  duping  himself. 
The  wisest  men  have  been  cheated  by  the  idea  that 
some  supernatural  influence  upheld  and  guided  them ; 
and  from  the  time  of  Wallenstein  to  that  of  Buona¬ 
parte,  ambition  and  success  have  placed  confidence 
in  the  species  of  fatalism  inspired  by  a  belief  of  the 
influence  of  their  own  star.  Such  being  the  case,  the 
science  was  little  pursued  by  those  who,  faithful  in 
their  remarks  and  reports,  must  soon  have  discovered 
its  delusive  vanity  through  the  splendour  of  its  pro¬ 
fessions  ;  and  the  place  of  such  calm  and  disinte¬ 
rested  pursuers  of  truth  was  occupied  by  a  set  of 
men,  sometimes  ingenious,  always  forward  and  assu¬ 
ming-,  whose  knowledge  was  imposition,  whose  re¬ 
sponses  were,  like  the  oracles  of  yore,  grounded  on 
the  desire  of  deceit,  and  who,  if  sometimes  they  were 
elevated  into  rank  and  fortune,  were  more  frequently 
found  classed  with  rogues  and  vagabonds.  This  was 
the  more  apt  to  be  the  case,  that  a  sufficient  stock  of 
impudence,  and  some  knowledge  by  rote  of  the  terms 
of  art,  were  all  the  store  of  information  necessary 
for  establishing  a  conjurer.  The  natural  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  degraded  character  of  the  professors, 
was  the  degradation  of  the  art  itself.  Lilly,  who 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


293 


wrote  the  History  of  his  own  Life  and  Times,  notices 
m  that  curious  volume  the  most  distinguished  per¬ 
sons  of  his  day,  who  made  pretensions  to  astrology, 
and  almost  without  exception  describes  them  as  pro¬ 
fligate,  worthless,  sharking  cheats,  abandoned  to  vice, 
and  imposing,  by  the  grossest  frauds,  upon  the  silly 
fools  who  consulted  them.  From  what  we  learn  of 
his  own  history,  Lilly  himself,  a  low-born,  ignorant 
man,  with  some  gloomy  shades  of  fanaticism  in  his 
temperament,  was  sufficiently  fitted  to  dupe  others, 
and  perhaps  cheated  himself,  merely  by  perusing,  at 
an  advanced  period  of  life,  some  of  the  astrological 
tracts  devised  by  men  of  less  cunning,  though  per¬ 
haps  more  pretence  to  science,  than  he  himself  might 
boast.  Yet  the  public  still  continued  to  swallow  these 
gross  impositions,  though  coming  from  such  unwor¬ 
thy  authority.  The  astrologers  embraced  different 
sides  of  the  Civil  War,  and  the  king  on  one  side, 
with  the  Parliamentary  leaders  on  the  other,  were 
both  equally  curious  to  know,  and  eager  to  believe, 
what  Lilly,  Wharton,  or  Gadbury  had  discovered 
from  the  heavens,  touching  the  fortune  of  the  strife. 
Lilly  was  a  prudent  person,  contriving  with  some 
address  to  shift  the  sails  of  his  prophetic  bark,  so  as 
to  suit  the  current  of  the  time,  and  the  gale  of  for¬ 
tune.  No  person  could  better  discover  from  various 
omens  the  course  of  Charles’s  misfortunes,  so  soon 
as  they  had  come  to  pass.  In  the  time  of  the  Com¬ 
monwealth,  he  foresaw  the  perpetual  destruction  of 
the  monarchy,  and  in  1660,  this  did  not  prevent  his 
foreseeing  the  restoration  of  King  Charles  II.  He 
maintained  some  credit  even  among  the  better 
classes,  for  Aubrey  and  Ashmole  both  called  them¬ 
selves  his  friends,  being  persons  extremely  credulous 
doubtless  respecting  the  mystic  arts.  Once  a-year, 
too,  the  astrologers  had  a  public  dinner  or  feast,  where 
the  knaves  were  patronised  by  the  company  of  such 
fools  as  claimed  the  title  of  Philomaths ;  that  is, 
lovers  of  the  mathematics,  by  which  name  were  still 

B  b  2 


294 


LETTERS  ON 


distinguished  those  who  encouraged  the  pursuit  of 
mystical  prescience,  the  most  opposite  possible  to 
exact  science.  Elias  Ashmole,  the  “  most  honourable 
Esquire”  to  whom  Lilly’s  Life  is  dedicated,  seldom 
failed  to  attend ;  nay,  several  men  of  sense  and  know¬ 
ledge  honoured  this  rendezvous.  Congreve’s  picture 
of  a  man  like  Foresight,  the  dupe  of  Astrology  and 
its  sister  arts,  was  then  common  in  society.  But 
the  astrologers  of  the  17th  century  did  not  confine 
themselves  to  the  stars.  There  was  no  province 
of  fraud  which  they  did  not  practise ;  they  were 
scandalous  as  panders,  and  as  quacks  sold  potions  for 
the  most  unworthy  purposes.  For  such  reasons  the 
common  people  detested  the  astrologers  of  the  great, 
as  cordially  as  they  did  the  more  vulgar  witches  of 
their  own  sphere. 

Dr.  Lamb,  patronised  by  the  Duke  of  Bucking¬ 
ham,  who,  like  other  overgrown  favourites,  was  in¬ 
clined  to  cherish  astrology,  was,  in  1640,  pulled  to 
pieces  in  the  city  of  London  by  the  enraged  popu¬ 
lace,  and  his  maid-servant,  thirteen  years  after¬ 
ward,  hanged  as  a  witch  at  Salisbury.  In  the  vil- 
lanous  transaction  of  the  poisoning  of  Sir  Thomas 
Overbury,  in  King  James’s  time,  much  mention  was 
made  of  the  art  and  skill  of  Dr.  Forman,  another 
professor  of  the  same  sort  with  Lamb,  who  was  con¬ 
sulted  by  the  Countess  of  Essex  on  the  best  mode 
of  conducting  her  guilty  intrigue  with  the  Earl  of 
Somerset.  He  was  dead  before  the  affair  broke  out, 
which  might  otherwise  have  cost  him  the  gibbet,  as 
it  did  all  others  concerned,  with  the  exception  only 
of  the  principal  parties,  the  atrocious  authors  of  the 
crime.  When  the  cause  was  tried,  some  little  pup¬ 
pets  were  produced  in  court,  which  were  viewed  by 
one  party  with  horror,  as  representing  the  most  hor¬ 
rid  spells.  It  was  even  said  that  the  Devil  was 
about  to  pull  down  the  court-house  on  their  being 
discovered.  Others  of  the  audience  only  saw 
in  them  the  baby  figures  on  which  dress-makers 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  295 

then,  as  now,  were  accustomed  to  expose  new 
fashions. 

The  erection  of  the  Royal  Society,  dedicated  to 
far  different  purposes  than  the  pursuits  of  astrology, 
had  a  natural  operation  in  bringing  the  latter  into 
discredit ;  and  although  the  credulity  of  the  ignorant 
and  uninformed  continued  to  support  some  pre¬ 
tenders  to  that  science,  the  name  of  Philomath 
assumed  by  these  persons  and  their  clients  began 
to  sink  under  ridicule  and  contempt.  When  Sir 
Richard  Steele  set  up  the  paper  called  the  Guardian, 
he  chose,  under  the  title  of  Nestor  Ironside,  to  assume 
the  character  of  an  astrologer,  and  issued  predic¬ 
tions  accordingly,  one  of  which,  announcing  the 
death  of  a  person  called  Partridge,  once  a  shoe¬ 
maker,  but  at  the  time  the  conductor  of  an  Astro¬ 
logical  Almanack,  led  to  a  controversy,  which  was 
supported  with  great  humour  by  Swift  and  other 
wags.  I  believe  you  will  find  that  this,  with  Swift’s 
Elegy  on  the  same  person,  is  one  of  the  last  occa¬ 
sions  in  which  astrology  has  afforded  even  a  jest  to 
the  good  people  of  England. 

This  dishonoured  science  has  some  right  to  be 
mentioned  in  a  treatise  on  Demonology,  because 
the  earlier  astrologers,  though  denying  the  use  of  all 
necromancy,  that  is,  unlawful  or  black  magic,  pre¬ 
tended  always  to  a  correspondence  with  the  various 
spirits  of  the  elements,  on  the  principles  of  the  Rosi- 
crucian  philosophy.  They  affirmed  they  could  bind 
to  their  service,  and  imprison  in  a  ring,  a  mirror,  or 
a  stone,  some  fairy,  sylph,  or  salamander,  and  com¬ 
pel  it  to  appear  when  called,  and  render  answers  to 
such  questions  as  the  viewer  should  propose.  It  is 
remarkable  that  the  sage  himself  did  not  pretend  to 
see  the  spirit ;  but  the  task  of  viewer,  or  reader,  was 
intrusted  to  a  third  party,  a  boy  or  girl  usually  un¬ 
der  the  years  of  puberty.  Dr.  Dee,  an  excellent 
mathematician,  had  a  stone  o.f  this  kind,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  imposed  upon  concerning  the  spirit1* 


296 


LETTERS  ON 


attached  to  it,  their  actions  and  answers,  by  the  re¬ 
port  of  one  Kelly,  who  acted  as  his  viewer.  The 
unfortunate  Doe  was  ruined  by  his  associates  both 
in  fortune  and  reputation.  His  show-stone,  or  mir¬ 
ror,  is  still  preserved,  among  other  curiosities,  in  the 
British  Museum.  Some  superstition  of  the  same 
kind  was  introduced  by  the  celebrated  Count  Cagli- 
ostro,  during  the  course  of  the  intrigue  respecting 
the  diamond  necklace,  in  which  the  late  Marie  An¬ 
toinette  was  so  unfortunately  implicated. 

Dismissing  this  general  class  of  impostors,  who 
are  now  seldom  heard  of,  we  come  now  briefly  to 
mention  some  leading  superstitions,  once,  perhaps, 
common  to  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  but  now  re¬ 
stricted  to  those  which  continue  to  be  inhabited  by 
an  undisturbed  and  native  race.  Of  these,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  is  the  Irish  fiction,  which  assigns 
to  certain  families  of  ancient  descent  and  distin¬ 
guished  rank  the  privilege  of  a  banshie,  as  she  is 
called,  or  household  fairy,  whose  office  it  is  to  appear, 
seemingly  mourning  while  she  announces  the  ap¬ 
proaching  death  of  some  one  of  the  destined  race. 
The  subject  has  been  so  lately  and  beautifully  inves¬ 
tigated  and  illustrated  by  Mr.  Crofton  Croker  and 
others,  that  I  may  dispense  with  being  very  particu¬ 
lar  regarding  it.  If  I  am  rightly  informed,  the  dis¬ 
tinction  of  a  banshie  is  only  allowed  to  families  of 
the  pure  Milesian  stock,  and  is  never  ascribed  to  any 
descendant  of  the  proudest  Norman  or  boldest  Saxon 
who  followed  the  banner  of  Earl  Strongbow,  much 
less  to  adventurers  of  later  date  who  have  obtained 
settlements  in  the  Green  Isle. 

Several  families  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland  an¬ 
ciently  laid  claim  to  the  distinction  of  an  attendant 
spirit,  who  performed  the  office  of  the  Irish  banshie. 
Among  them,  however,  the  functions  of  this  attend¬ 
ant  genius,  whose  form  and  appearance  differed  in 
different  cases,  were  not  limited  to  announcing  the 
dissolution  of  those  whose  days  were  numbered. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  297 

The  Highlanders  contrived  to  exact  from  them  other 
points  of  service,  sometimes  as  warding  off  dangers 
of  battle  ;  at  others,  as  guarding  and  protecting  the 
infant  heir  through  the  dangers  of  childhood;  and 
sometimes  as  condescending  to  interfere  even  in  the 
sports  of  the  chieftain,  and  point  out  the  fittest  move 
to  be  made  at  chess,  or  the  best  card  to  be  played  at 
any  other  game.  Among  those  spirits  who  have 
deigned  to  vouch  their  existence  by  appearance  of 
late  years,  is  that  of  an  ancestor  of  the  family  of 
MacLean  of  Lochbuy.  Before  the  death  of  any  of 
his  race,  the  phantom-chief  gallops  along  the  sea- 
beach,  near  to  the  castle,  announcing  the  event  by 
cries  and  lamentations.  The  spectre  is  said  to  have 
rode  his  rounds  and  uttered  his  death-cries  within 
these  few  years,  in  consequence  of  which,  the  family 
and  clan,  though  much  shocked,  were  in  no  way 
surprised,  to  hear,  by  next  accounts,  that  their  gal¬ 
lant  chief  was  dead  at  Lisbon,  where  he  served 
under  Lord  Wellington. 

Of  a  meaner  origin  and  occupation  was  the  Scot¬ 
tish  Brownie — already  mentioned,  as  somewhat  re¬ 
sembling  Robin  Goodfellow  in  the  frolicsome  days 
of  Old  England.  This  spirit  was  easily  .banished, 
or,  as  it  was  styled,  hired  away,  by  the  Offer  of 
clothes  or  food ;  but  many  of  the  simple  inhabitants 
could  little  see  the  prudence  of  parting  with  such  a 
useful  domestic  drudge, who  served  faithfully,  without 
fee  and  reward,  food  or  raiment.  Neither  was  it  at 
all  times  safe  to  reject  Biownie’s  assistance.  Thus, 
we  are  informed  by  Brand,  that  a  young  man  in  the 
Orkneys  “  used  to  brew,  and  sometimes  read  upon 
his  Bible  ;  to  whom  an  old  woman  in  the  house  said, 
that  Brownie  was  displeased  with  that  book  he  read 
upon,  which,  if  he  continued  to  do,  they  would  get 
no  more  service  of  Brownie ;  but  he  being  better  in¬ 
structed  from  that  book,  which  was  Brownie’s  eye¬ 
sore,  and  the  object  of  his  wrath,  when  he  brewed, 
would  not  suffer  any  sacrifice  to  be  given  to  Brownie ; 


298 


LETTERS  ON 


whereupon  the  first  and  second  brewings  were 
spoiled,  and  for  no  use ;  for  though  the  wort  wrought 
well,  yet  in  a  little  time  it  left  off  working,  and  grew 
cokl ;  but  of  the  third  broust,  or  brewing,  he  had  ale 
very  good,  though  he  would  not  give  any  sacrifice 
to  Brownie,  with  whom  afterward  they  were  no 
more  troubled.”  Another  story  of  the  same  kind 
is  told  of  a  lady  in  Uist,  who  refused,  on  religious 
grounds,  the  usual  sacrifice  to  this  domestic  spirit. 
The  first  and  second  brewings  failed,  but  the  third 
succeeded;  and  thus,  when  Brownie  lost  the  per¬ 
quisite  to  which  he  had  been  so  long  accustomed, 
he  abandoned  the  inhospitable  house,  where  his  ser¬ 
vices  had  so  long  been  faithfully  rendered.  The 
last  place  in  the  south  of  Scotland  supposed  to  have 
been,  honoured,  or  benefited,  by  the  residence  of  a 
Brownie,  was  Bodsbeck,  in  Moffatdale,  which  has 
been  the  subject  of  an  entertaining  tale  by  Mr. 
James  Hogg,  the  self-instructed  genius  of  Ettrick 
Forest. 

These  particular  superstitions,  however,  are  too 
limited,  and  too  much  obliterated  from  recollection, 
to  call  for  special  discussion.  The  general  faith  in 
fairies  has  already  undergone  our  consideration ;  but 
something  remains  to  be  said  upon  another  species 
of  superstition,  so  general,  that  it  may  be  called 
proper  to  mankind  in  every  climate ;  so  deeply 
rooted  also  in  human  belief,  that  it  is  found  to  sur¬ 
vive  in  states  of  society  during  which  all  other  fic¬ 
tions  of  the  same  order  axe  entirely  dismissed  from 
influence.  Mr.  Crabbe,  with  his  usual  felicity,  has 
called  the  belief  in  ghosts  “  the  last  lingering  fiction 
of  the  brain.” 

Nothing  appears  more  simple  at  the  first  view  of 
the  subject,  than  that  human  memory  should  recall 
and  bring  back  to  the  eye  of  the  imagination,  in  per¬ 
fect  similitude,  even  the  veiy  form  and  features  of  a 
person  with  whom  we  have  been  long  conversant,  or 
which  have  been  imprinted  in  our  minds  with  indeli- 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  299 

ble  strength,  by  some  striking  circumstances  touch¬ 
ing  our  meeting  in  life.  The  son  does  not  easily 
forget  the  aspect  of  an  affectionate  father;  and,  for 
reasons  opposite,  but  equally  powerful,  the  counte¬ 
nance  of  a  murdered  person  is  engraved  upon  the  re¬ 
collection  of  his  slayer.  A  thousand  additional  cir¬ 
cumstances,  far  too  obvious  to  require  recapitulation, 
render  the  supposed  apparition  of  the  dead  the  most 
ordinary  spectral  phenomenon  which  is  ever  believed 
to  occur  among  the  living.  All  that  we  have  for¬ 
merly  said  respecting  supernatural  appearances  in 
general,  applies  with  peculiar  force  to  the  belief  of 
ghosts ;  for  whether  the  cause  of  delusion  exists  m 
an  excited  imagination  or  a  disordered  organic  sys¬ 
tem,  it  is  in  this  way  that  it  commonly  exhibits  itself. 
Hence  Lucretius  himself,  the  most  absolute  of  skep¬ 
tics,  considers  the  existence  of  ghosts,  and  their  fre¬ 
quent  apparition,  as  facts  so  undeniable,  that  he  en¬ 
deavours  to  account  for  them  at  the  expense  of  as¬ 
senting  to  a  class  of  phenomena  very  irreconcilable 
to  his  general  system.  As  he  will  not  allow  of  the 
existence  of  the  human  soul,  and  at  the  same  time 
cannot  venture  to  question  the  phenomena  supposed 
to  haunt  the  repositories  of  the  dead,  he  is  obliged  to 
adopt  the  belief  that  the  body  consists  of  several 
coats  like  those  of  an  onion,  and  that  the  outmost 
and  thinnest,  being  detached  by  death,  continues  to 
wander  near  the  place  of  sepulture,  in  the  exact  re¬ 
semblance  of  the  person  while  alive. 

We  have  said  there  are  many  ghost  stories  which 
we  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  challenge  as  impostures, 
because  we  are  confident  that  those  who  relate  them 
on  their  own  authority  actually  believe  what  they 
assert,  and  may  have  good  reason  for  doing  so, 
though  there  is  no  real  phantom  after  all.  We  are 
far,  therefore,  from  averring  that  such  tales  are  ne¬ 
cessarily  false.  It  is  easy  to  suppose  the  visionary 
has  been  imposed  upon  by  a  lively  dream,  a  waking 
revery,  the  excitation  of  a  powerful  imagination,  oi 


300 


LETTERS  ON 


the  misrepresentation  of  a  diseased  organ  of  sight  * 
and,  in  one  or  other  of  these  causes,  to  say  nothing 
of  a  system  of  deception  which  may  in  many  in¬ 
stances  be  probable,  we  apprehend  a  solution  will  be 
found  for  all  cases  of  what  are  called  real  ghost  stories. 

In  truth,  the  evidence  with  respect  to  such  appari¬ 
tions  is  very  seldom  accurately  or  distinctly  ques¬ 
tioned.  A  supernatural  tale  is,  in  most  cases,  re¬ 
ceived  as  an  agreeable  mode  of  amusing  society,  and 
he  would  be  rather  accounted  a  sturdy  moralist  than 
an  entertaining  companion,  who  should  employ  him¬ 
self  in  assailing  its  credibility.  It  would  indeed  be 
a  solecism  in  manners,  something  like  that  of  im¬ 
peaching  the  genuine  value  of  the  antiquities  exhi¬ 
bited  by  a  good-natured  collector,  for  the  gratification 
of  his  guests.  This  difficulty  will  appear  greater, 
should  a  company  have  the  rare  good  fortune  to  meet 
the  person  who  himself  witnessed  the  wonders  which 
he  tells ;  a  well-bred  or  prudent  man  will,  under  such 
circumstances,  abstain  from  using  the  rules  of  cross- 
examination  practised  in  a  court  of  justice ;  and  if 
in  any  case  he  presumes  to  do  so,  he  is  in  danger  of 
receiving  answers,  even  from  the  most  candid  and 
honourable  persons,  which  are  rather  fitted  to  sup¬ 
port  the  credit  of  the  story  which  they  stand  com¬ 
mitted  to  maintain,  than  to  the  pure  service  of  un¬ 
adorned  truth.  The  narrator  is  asked,  for  example, 
some  unimportant  question  with  respect  to  the  appa¬ 
rition  ;  he  answers  it  on  the  hasty  suggestion  of  his 
own  imagination,  tinged  as  it  is  with  belief  of  the 
general  fact,  and  by  doing  so,  often  gives  a  feature 
of  minute  evidence  which  was  before  wanting,  and 
this  with  perfect  unconsciousness  on  his  own  part. 
It  is  a  rare  occurrence,  indeed,  to  find  an  opportunity 
of  dealing  with  an  actual  ghost-seer:  such  instances, 
however,  I  have  certainly  myself  met  with,  and  that 
in  the  case  of  able,  wise,  candid,  and  resolute  persons, 
of  whose  veracity  I  had  every  reason  to  be  confident. 
But  in  such  instances,  shades  of  mental  aberration 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


301 


have  afterward  occurred,  which  sufficiently  accounted 
for  the  supposed  apparitions,  and  will  incline  me 
always  to  feel  alarmed  in  behalf  of  the  continued 
health  of  a  friend,  who  should  conceive  himself  to 
have  witnessed  such  a  visitation. 

The  nearest  approximation  which  can  be  generally 
made  to  exact  evidence  in  this  case,  is  the  word  of 
some  individual  who  has  had  the  story,  it  may  be, 
from  the  person  to  whom  it  has  happened,  but  most 
likely  from  his  family,  or  some  friend  of  the  family. 
Far  more  commonly,  the  narrator  possesses  no  better 
means  of  knowledge  than  that  of  dwelling  in  the 
country  where  the  thing  happened,  or  being  well  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  outside  of  the  mansion  in  the  inside 
of  which  the  ghost  appeared. 

In  every  point,  the  evidence  of  such  a  secondhand 
retailer  of  the  mystic  story  must  fall  under  the 
adjudged  case  in  an  English  court.  The  judge  stop¬ 
ped  a  witness  who  was  about  to  give  an  account  of 
the  murder,  upon  trial,  as  it  was  narrated  to  him  by  the 
ghost  of  the  murdered  person.  “  Hold,  sir,”  said  his 
lordship ;  “  the  ghost  is  an  excellent  witness,  and  his 
evidence  the  best  possible ;  but  he  cannot  be  heard 
by  proxy  in  this  court.  Summon  him  hither,  and  I’ll 
hear  him  in  person  ;  but  your  communication  is  mere 
hearsay,  which  my  office  compels  me  to  reject.”  Yet 
it  is  upon  the  credit  of  one  man,  who  pledges  it  upon 
that  of  three  or  four  persons  who  have  told  it  suc¬ 
cessively  to  each  other,  that  we  are  often  expected 
to  believe  an  incident  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of 
nature,  however  agreeable  to  our  love  of  the  wonder¬ 
ful  and  the  horrible. 

In  estimating  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  such  stories, 
it  is  evident  we  can  derive  no  proofs  from  that  period 
of  society,  when  men  affirmed  boldly,  and  believed 
stoutly,  all  the  wonders  which  could  be  coined  or 
fancied.  That  such  stories  are  believed  and  told  by 
grave  historians,  only  shows  that  the  wisest  men  can¬ 
not  rise  in  all  things  above  the  general  ignorance  of 


302 


LETTERS  ON 


their  age.  Upon  the  evidence  of  such  historians,  we 
might  as  well  believe  the  portents  of  ancient,  or  the 
miracles  of  modem,  Rome.  For  example,  we  read 
in  Clarendon,  of  the  apparition  of  the  ghost  of  Sir 
George  Villiers  to  an  ancient  dependant.  This  is,  no 
doubt,  a  story  told  by  a  grave  author,  at  a  time  when 
such  stories  were  believed  by  all  the  world ;  but  does 
it  follow  that  our  reason  must  acquiesce  in  a  state¬ 
ment  so  positively  contradicted  by  the  voice  of 
Nature,  through  all  her  works  '?  The  miracle  of 
raising  a  dead  man  was  positively  refused  by  our 
Saviour  to  the  Jews,  who  demanded  it  as  a  proof  of 
his  mission ;  because  they  had  already  sufficient 
grounds  of  conviction,  and,  as  they  believed  them 
not,  it  was  irresistibly  argued  by  the  Divine  Person 
whom  they  tempted,  that  neither  would  they  be¬ 
lieve  if  one  arose  from  the  dead.  Shall  we  sup¬ 
pose  that  a  miracle  refused  for  the  conversion  of 
God’s  chosen  people,  was  sent  on  a  vain  errand, 
to  save  the  life  of  a  profligate  spendthrift  ?  I  lay 
aside,  you  observe,  entirely,  the  not  unreasonable 
supposition  that  Towers,  or  whatever  was  the  ghost- 
seer’s  name,  desirous  to  make  an  impression  upon 
Buckingham,  as  an  old  servant  of  his  house,  might 
be  tempted  to  give  him  his  advice,  of  which  we  are 
not  told  the  import,  in  the  character  of  his  father’s 
spirit,  and  authenticate  the  tale  by  the  mention  of 
some  token  known  to  him  as  a  former  retainer  ol 
the  family.  The  Duke  was  superstitious,  and  the 
ready  dupe  of  astrologers  and  soothsayers.  The 
manner  in  which  he  had  provoked  the  fury  of  the 
people,  must  have  warned  every  reflecting  person  of 
his  approaching  fate ;  and,  the  age  considered,  it  was 
not  unnatural  that  a  faithful  friend  should  take  this 
mode  of  calling  his  attention  to  his  perilous  situation 
Or,  if  we  suppose  that  the  incident  was  not  a  mere 
pretext  to  obtain  access  to  the  Duke’s  ear,  the  mes 
senger  jjay  have  been  imposed  upon  by  an  idle 
dream — m  a  word,  numberless  conjectures  might  be 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


303 


formed  for  accounting  for  the  event  in  a  natural  way, 
the  most  extravagant  of  which  is  more  probable, 
than  that  the  laws  of  nature  were  broken  through  in 
order  to  give  a  vain  and  fruitless  warning  to  an  ambi¬ 
tious  minion. 

It  is  the  same  with  all  those  that  are  called  ac¬ 
credited  ghost  stories  usually  told  at  the  fireside. 
They  want  evidence.  It  is  true,  that  the  general  wish 
to  believe,  rather  than  power  of  believing,  has  given 
some  such  stories  a  certain  currency  in  society.  I 
may  mention,  as  one  of  the  class  of  tales  I  mean, 
that  of  the  late  Earl  St.  Vincent,  who  watched  with 
a  friend,  it  is  said,  a  whole  night,  in  order  to  detect 
the  cause  of  certain  nocturnal  disturbances  which 
took  place  in  a  certain  mansion.  The  house  was 
under  lease  to  Mrs.  Ricketts,  his  sister.  The  result 
of  his  lordship’s  vigil  is  said  to  have  been,  that  he 
heard  the  noises,  without  being  able  to  detect  the 
causes,  and  insisted  on  his  sister  giving  up  the  house. 
This  is  told  as  a  real  story,  with  a  thousand  different 
circumstances.  But  who  has  heard  or  seen  an  au¬ 
thentic  account  from  Earl  St.  Vincent,  or  from  his 
“  companion  of  the  watch,”  or  from  his  lordship’s 
sister  1  And  as  in  any  other  case,  such  sure  species 
of  direct  evidence  would  be  necessary  to  prove  the 
facts,  it  seems  unreasonable  to  believe  such  a  story 
on  slighter  terms.  When  the  particulars  are 
precisely  fixed  and  known,  it  might  be  time  to  in¬ 
quire  whether  Lord  St.  Vincent,  amid  the  other 
eminent  qualities  of  a  first-rate  seaman,  might  not 
be  in  some  degree  tinged  with  their  tendency  to 
superstition ;  and  still  farther,  whether,  having  as¬ 
certained  the  existence  of  disturbances  not  imme¬ 
diately  or  easily  detected,  his  lordship  might  not 
advise  his  sister  rather  to  remove,  than  to  remain  in 
a  house  so  haunted,  though  he  might  believe  that 
poachers  or  smugglers  were  the  worst  ghosts  by 
whom  it  was  disturbed. 

The  story  of  two  higlily  respectable  officers  in 


304 


LETTERS  ON 


the  British  army,  who  are  supposed  to  have  seen 
the  spectre  of  the  brother  of  one  of  them  in  a  hut, 
or  barrack,  in  America,  is  also  one  of  those  accre¬ 
dited  ghost  tales,  which  attain  a  sort  of  brevet  rank 
as  true,  from  the  mention  of  respectable  names  as 
the  parties  who  witnessed  the  vision.  But  we  are 
left  without  a  glimpse  when,  how,  and  in  what  terms, 
this  story  obtained  its  currency ;  as  also  by  whom, 
and  in  what  manner,  it  was  first  circulated;  and 
among  the  numbers  by  whom  it  has  been  quoted, 
although  all  agree  in  the  general  event,  scarcely 
two,  even  of  those  who  pretend  to  the  best  informa¬ 
tion,  tell  the  story  in  the  same  way. 

Another  such  story,  in  which  the  name  of  a  lady 
of  condition  is  made  use  of  as  having  seen  an  appa¬ 
rition  in  a  country-seat  in  France,  is  so  far  better 
borne  out  than  those  I  have  mentioned,  that  I  have 
seen  a  narrative  of  the  circumstances,  attested  by 
the  party  principally  concerned.  That  the  house  was 
disturbed  seems  to  be, certain,  but  the  circumstances 
(though  very  remarkable)  did  not,  in  my  mind,  by  any 
means  exclude  the  probability  that  the  disturbance  and 
appearances  were  occasioned  by  the  dexterous  ma¬ 
nagement  of  some  mischievously  disposed  persons. 

The  remarkable  circumstance  of  Thomas,  the  se¬ 
cond  Lord  Lyttelton,  prophesying  his  own  death 
within  a  few  minutes,  upon  the  information  of  an 
apparition,  has  been  always  quoted  as  a  true  story. 
But  of  late  it  has  been  said  and  published,  that  the 
unfortunate  nobleman  had  previously  determined  to 
take  poison,  and  of  course  had  it  in  his  own  power 
to  ascertain  the  execution  of  the  prediction.  It  was 
no  doubt  singular  that  a  man,  who  meditated  his  exit 
from  the  world,  should  have  chosen  to  play  such  a 
trick  on  his  friends.  But  it  is  still  more  credible 
that  a  whimsical  man  should  do  so  wild  a  thing  than 
that  a  messenger  should  be  sent  from  the  dead,  to 
tell  a  libertine  at  what  precise  hour  he  should  expire. 

To  this  list,  other  stories  of  the  same  class  might 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  305 

be  added.  But  it  is  sufficient  to  show  that  such  sto¬ 
ries  as  these,  having  gained  a  certain  degree  of  cur¬ 
rency  in  the  world,  and  bearing  creditable  names  on 
their  front,  walk  through  society  unchallenged,  like 
bills  through  a  bank,  when  they  bear  respectable  en- 
dorsations,  although,  it  may  be,  the  signatures  are 
forged  after  all.  There  is,  indeed,  an  unwillingness 
very  closely  to  examine  such  subjects,  for  the  secret 
fund  of  superstition  in  every  man’s  bosom,  is  grati¬ 
fied  by  believing  them  to  be  true,  or  at  least  induces 
him  to  abstain  from  challenging  them  as  false.  And 
no  doubt  it  must  happen  that  the  transpiring  of  inci¬ 
dents,  in  which  men  have  actually  seen,  or  conceived 
that  they  saw,  apparitions  which  weie  invisible  to 
others,  contributes  to  the  increase  of  such  stories, — 
which  do  accordingly  sometimes  meet  us  in  a  shape 
of  veracity  difficult  to  question. 

The  following  story  was  narrated  to  me  by  my 
friend  Mr.  William  Clerk,  chief  clerk  to  the  Jury 
Court,  Edinburgh,  when  he  first  learned  it,  now  nearly 
thirty  years  ago,  from  a  passenger  in  the  mail  coach.. 
With  Mr.  Clerk’s  consent,  I  gave  the  story  at  that 
time  to  poor  Mat  Lewis,  who  published  it  with  a 
ghost-ballad  which  he  adjusted  on  the  same  theme. 
From  the  minuteness  of  the  original  detail,  however, 
the  narrative  is  better  calculated  for  prose  than 
verse ;  and  more  especially,  as  the  friend  to  whom  it 
was  originally  communicated,  is  one  of  the  most 
accurate,  intelligent,  and  acute  persons  whom  I  have 
known  in  the  course  of  my  life,  I  am  willing  to  pre¬ 
serve  the  precise  story  in  this  place. 

It  was  about  the  eventful  year  1800,  when  the  Em¬ 
peror  Paul  laid  his  ill-judged  embargo  on  British 
trade,  that  my  friend,  Mr.  William  Clerk,  on  a  jour¬ 
ney  to  London,  found  himself  in  company,  in  the 
mail-coach,  with  a  seafaring  man  of  middle  age  and 
respectable  appearance,  who  announced  himself  as 
master  of  a  vessel  in  the  Baltic  trade,  and  a  sufferer 
by  the  embargo.  In  the  course  of  the  desultory 

C  c  2 


306 


LETTERS  ON 


conversation  which  takes  place  on  such  occasions, 
the  seaman  observed,  in  compliance  with  a  common 
superstition,  “  I  wish  we  may  have  good  luck  on  our 
journey — there  is  a  magpie.” — “  And  why  should  that 
be  unlucky  ?”  said  my  friend. — “  I  cannot  tell  you 
that,”  replied  the  sailor;  “but  all  the  world  agrees 
that  one  magpie  bodes  bad  luck — two  are  not  so  bad, 
but  three  are  the  Devil.  I  never  saw  three  magpies 
but  twice,  and  once  I  had  near  lost  my  vessel,  and 
the  second  I  fell  from  a  horse,  and  was  hurt.”  This 
conversation  led  Mr.  Clerk  to  observe,  that  he  sup¬ 
posed  he  believed  also  in  ghosts,  since  he  credited 
such  auguries.  “  And  if  I  do,”  said  the  sailor,  “  I 
may  have  my  own  reasons  for  doing  so ;”  and  he 
spoke  this  in  a  deep  and  serious  manner,  implying 
that  he  felt  deeply  what  he  was  saying.  On  being 
further  urged,  he  confessed  that,  if  he  could  believe 
his  own  eyes,  there  was  one  ghost  at  least  which  he 
had  seen  repeatedly.  He  then  told  his  story  as  I 
now  relate  it. 

Our  mariner  had,  in  his  youth,  gone  mate  of  a 
slave  vessel  from  Liverpool,  of  which  town  he  seemed 
to  be  a  native.  The  captain  of  the  vessel  was  a  man 
of  a  variable  temper,  sometimes  kind  and  courteous 
to  his  men,  but  subject  to  fits  of  humour,  dislike,  and 
passion,  during  which  he  was  very  violent,  tyran¬ 
nical,  and  cruel.  He  took  a  particular  dislike  at  one 
sailor  aboard,  an  elderly  man,  called  Bill  Jones,  or 
some  such  name.  He  seldom  spoke  to  this  person 
without  threats  and  abuse,  which  the  old  man,  with 
the  license  which  sailor’s  take  in  merchant  vessels, 
was  very  apt  to  return.  On  one  occasion,  Bill  Jones 
appeared  slow  in  getting  out  on  the  yard  to  hand  a 
sad.  The  captain,  according  to  custom,  abused  the 
seaman  as  a  lubberly  rascal,  who  got  fat  by  leaving 
his  duty  to  other  people.  The  man  made  a  saucy 
answer,  almost  amounting  to  mutiny,  on  which,  in  a 
towering  passion,  the  captain  ran  down  to  his  cabin, 
and  returned  with  a  blunderbuss  loaded  with  slugs. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


307 


With  which  he  took  deliberate  aim  at  the  supposed 
mutineer,  fired,  and  mortally  wounded  him.  The 
man  was  handed  down  from  the  yard,  and  stretched 
on  the  deck,  evidently  dying.  He  fixed  his  eyes  on 
the  captain,  and  said,  “  Sir,  you  have  done  for  me, 
but,  I  will  never  leave  you."  The  captain,  in  re¬ 
turn,  swore  at  him  for  a  fat  lubber,  and  said  he  would 
have  him  thrown  into  the  slave-kettle,  where  they 
made  food  for  the  negroes,  and  see  how  much  fat  he 
had  got.  The  man  died ;  his  body  was  actually 
thrown  into  the  slave-kettle,  and  the  narrator  ob¬ 
served,  with  a  naivete  which  confirmed  the  extent  of 
his  own  belief  in  the  truth  of  what  he  told,  “  There 
was  not  much  fat  about  him  after  all.” 

The  captain  told  the  crew  they  must  keep  abso¬ 
lute  silence  on  the  subject  of  what  had  passed ;  and 
as  the  mate  was  not  willing  to  give  an  explicit  and 
absolute  promise,  he  ordered  him  to  be  confined  be¬ 
low.  After  a  day  or  two,  he  came  to  the  mate,  and 
demanded  if  he  had  an  intention  to  deliver  him  up 
for  trial  when  the  vessel  got  home.  The  mate,  who 
,was  tired  of  close  confinement  in  that  sultry  climate, 
Spoke  his  commander  fair,  and  obtained  his  liberty. 
When  he  mingled  among  the  crew  once  more,  he 
found  them  impressed  with  the  idea,  not  unnatural 
in  their  situation,  that  the  ghost  of  the  dead  man  ap¬ 
peared  among  them  when  they  had  a  spell  of  duty, 
especially  if  a  sail  was  to  be  handed,  on  which  occa¬ 
sion  the  spectre  was  sure  to  be  out  upon  the  yard 
before  any  of  the  crew.  The  narrator  had  seen  this 
apparition  himself  repeatedly — he  believed  the  cap¬ 
tain  saw  it  also,  but  he  took  no  notice  of  it  for  some 
time,  and  the  crew,  terrified  at  the  violent  temper 
of  the  man,  durst  not  call  his  attention  to  it.  Thus, 
they  held  on  their  course  homeward,  with  great  fear 
and  anxiety. 

At  length,  the  captain  invited  the  mate,  who  was 
now  in  a  sort  of  favour,  to  go  down  to  the  cabin  and 
take  a  glass  of  grog  with  him.  In  this  interview,  he 


308 


LETTERS  ON 


assumed  a  very  grave  and  anxious  aspect.  “  I  need 
not  tell  you,  Jack,”  he  said,  “  what  sort  of  hand  we 
have  got  on  board  with  us.  He  told  me  he  would 
never  leave  me,  and  he  has  kept  his  word.  You  only 
see  him  now  and  then,  but  he  is  always  by  my  side, 
and  never  out  of  my  sight.  At  this  very  moment  I 
see  him — I  am  determined  to  bear  it  no  longer,  and  I 
have  resolved  to  leave  you.” 

The  mate  replied,  that  his  leaving  the  vessel  while 
out  of  the  sight  of  any  land  was  impossible.  He 
advised,  that  if  the  captain  apprehended  any  bad 
consequences  from  what  had  happened,  he  should 
run  for  the  west  of  France  or  Ireland,  and  there  go 
ashore,  and  leave  him,  the  mate,  to  carry  the  vessel 
into  Liverpool.  The  captain  only  shook  his  head 
gloomily,  and  reiterated  his  determination  to  leave 
the  ship.  At  this  moment,  the  mate  was  called  to 
the  deck  for  some  purpose  or  other,  and  the  instant 
he  got  up  the  companion-ladder,  he  heard  a  splash 
in  the  water,  and  looking  over  the  ship’s  side,  saw 
that  the  captain  had  thrown  himself  into  the  sea 
from  the  quarter-gallery,  and  was  running  astern  at 
the  rate  of  six  knots  an  hour.  When  just  about  to 
sink,  he  seemed  to  make  a  last  exertion,  sprung  half 
out  of  the  water,  and  clasped  his  hands  towards  the 

mate,  calling,  “  By - ,  Bill  is  with  me  now !”  and 

then  sunk,  to  be  seen  no  more. 

After  hearing  this  singular  story,  Mr.  Clerk  asked 
some  questions  about  the  captain,  and  whether  his 
companion  considered  him  as  at  all  times  rational. 
The  sailor  seemed  struck  with  the  question,  and  an¬ 
swered,  after  a  moment’s  delay,  that  in  general  he 
conversationed  well  enough. 

It  would  have  been  desirable  to  have  been  able 
to  ascertain  how  far  this  extraordinary  tale  was 
founded  on  fact ;  but  want  of  time,  and  other  circum¬ 
stances,  prevented  Mr.  Clerk  from  learning  the  names 
and  dates,  that  might,  to  a  certain  degree,  have  veri¬ 
fied  the  events.  Granting  the  murder  to  have  taken 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  309 

place,  and  the  tale  to  have  been  truly  told,  there  was 
nothing  more  likely  to  arise  among  the  ship’s  com¬ 
pany  than  the  belief  in  the  apparition ;  as  the  captain 
was  a  man  of  a  passionate  and  irritable  disposition, 
it  was  nowise  improbable  that  he,  the  victim  of 
remorse,  should  participate  in  the  horrible  visions  of 
those  less  concerned,  especially  as  he  was  compelled 
to  avoid  communicating  his  sentiments  with  any  one 
else ;  and  the  catastrophe  would  in  such  a  case  be 
but  the  natural  consequence  of  that  superstitious 
remorse  which  has  conducted  so  many  criminals  to 
suicide  or  the  gallows.  If  the  fellow-traveller  of 
Mr.  Clerk  be  not  allowed  this  degree  of  credit,  he 
must  at  least  be  admitted  to  have  displayed  a  singular 
talent  for  the  composition  of  the  horrible  in  fiction. 
The  tale,  properly  detailed,  might  have  made  the 
fortune  of  a  romancer. 

I  cannot  forbear  giving  you,  as  congenial  to  this 
story,  another  instance  of  a  guilt-formed  phantom, 
which  made  considerable  noise  about  twenty  years 
ago  or  more.  I  am,  I  think,  tolerably  correct  in  the 
details,  though  I  have  lost  the  account  of  the  trial. 
Jarvis  Matcham — such,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  was 
the  name  of  my  hero — was  pay-sergeant  in  a  regi¬ 
ment,  where  he  was  so  highly  esteemed  as  a  steady 
and  accurate  man,  that  he  was  permitted  opportunity 
to  embezzle  a  considerable  part  of  the  money  lodged 
in  his  hands  for  pay  of  soldiers,  bounty  of  recruits, 
then  a  large  sum,  and  other  charges  which  fell  within 
his  duty.  He  was  summoned  to  join  his  regiment 
from  a  town  where  he  had  been  on  the  recruiting 
service,  and  this  perhaps  under  some  shade  of  sus¬ 
picion.  Matcham  perceived  discovery  was  at  hand, 
and  would  have  deserted,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
presence  of  a  little  drummer  lad,  who  was  the  only 
one  of  his  party  appointed  to  attend  him.  In  the 
desperation  of  his  crime,  he  resolved  to  murder  the 
poor  boy,  and  avail  himself  of  some  balance  of 
money  to  make  his  escape.  He  meditated  this 


310 


LETTERS  ON 


wickedness  the  more  readily,  that  the  drummer,  he 
thought,  had  been  put  as  a  spy  on  him  He  per¬ 
petrated  his  crime,  and,  changing  his  dress  after  the 
deed  was  done,  made  a  long  walk  across  the  country 
to  an  inn  on  the  Portsmouth  road,  where  he  halted, 
and  went  to  bed,  desiring  to  be  called  when  the  first 
Portsmouth  coach  came.  The  waiter  summoned 
him  accordingly;  but  long  after  remembered,  that 
when  he  shook  the  guest  by  the  shoulder,  his  first 
words  as  he  awoke  were,  “  My  God !  I  did  not  kill 
him.” 

Matcham  went  to  the  seaport  by  the  coach,  and  in¬ 
stantly  entered  as  an  able-bodied  landsman  or  ma¬ 
rine,  I  know  not  which.  His  sobriety  and  attention 
to  duty  gained  him  the  same  good  opinion  of  the  offi¬ 
cers  in  his  new  service  which  he  had  enjoyed  in  the 
army.  H°  was  afloat  for  several  years,  and  behaved 
remarkably  well  in  some  actions.  At  length,  the 
vessel  came  into  Plymouth,  was  paid  off,  and  some 
of  the  crew,  among  whom  was  Jarvis  Matcham,  were 
dismissed  as  too  old  for  service.  He  and  another 
seaman  resolved  to  walk  to  town,  and  took  the  route 
by  Salisbury.  It  was  when  within  two  or  three 
miles  of  this  celebrated  city,  that  they  were  over¬ 
taken  by  a  tempest  so  sudden,  and  accompanied 
with  such  vivid  lightning,  and  thunder  so  dreadfully 
loud,  that  the  obdurate  conscience  of  the  old  sinner 
began  to  be  awakened.  He  expressed  more  terror 
than  seemed  natural  for  one  who  was  familiar  with 
the  war  of  elements,  and  began  to  look  and  talk  so 
wildly,  that  his  companion  became  aware  that  some¬ 
thing  more  than  usual  was  the  matter.  At  length, 
Matcham  complained  to  his  companion  that  the 
stones  rose  from  the  road  and  flew  after  him.  He 
desired  the  man  to  walk  on  the  other  side  of  the  high¬ 
way,  to  see  if  they  would  follow  him  when  he  was 
alone.  The  sailor  complied,  and  Jarvis  Matcham 
complained  that  the  stones  still  flew  after  him,  and 
did  not  pursue  the  other.  “  But  what  is  worse,”  he 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


311 


added,  coming  up  to  his  companion,  and  whispering, 
with  a  tone  of  mystery  and  fear,  “  who  is  that  little 
drummer  boy,  and  what  business  has  he  to  follow  us 
so  closely  1” — “  1  can  see  no  one,”  answered  the 
seaman,  infected  by  the  superstition  of  his  associate. 
“  What !  not  see  that  little  boy  with  the  bloody  pan¬ 
taloons  !”  exclaimed  the  secret  murderer,  so  much 
to  the  terror  of  his  comrade,  that  he  conjured  him, 
if  he  had  any  thing  on  his  mind,  to  make  a  clear 
conscience  as  far  as  confession  could  do  it.  The 
criminal  fetched  a  deep  groan,  and  declared  that  he 
was  unable  longer  to  endure  the  life  which  he  had 
led  for  years.  He  then  confessed  the  murder  of  the 
drummer,  and  added,  that  as  a  considerable  reward 
had  been  offered,  he  wished  his  comrade  to  deliver 
him  up  to  the  magistrates  of  Salisbury,  as  he  would 
desire  a  shipmate  to  profit  by  his  fate,  which  he  was 
now  convinced  was  inevitable.  Having  overcome 
his  friend’s  objections  to  this  mode  of  proceeding, 
Jarvis  Matcham  was  surrendered  to  justice  accord¬ 
ingly,  and  made  a  full  confession  of  his  guilt.  Eut 
before  the  trial  the  love  of  life  returned.  The  pri¬ 
soner  denied  his  confession,  and  pleaded  Not  Guilty. 
By  this  time,  however,  full  evidence  had  been  pro¬ 
cured  from  other  quarters.  Witnesses  appeared  from 
his  former  regiment  to  prove  his  identity  with  the 
murderer  and  deserter,  and  the  waiter  remembered 
the  ominous  words  which  he  had  spoken  when  he 
awoke  him  to  join  the  Portsmouth  coach.  Jarvis 
Matcham  was  found  Guilty,  and  executed.  When 
his  last  chance  of  life  was  over,  he  returned  to  his 
confession,  and  with  his  dying  breath  averred,  and 
truly,  as  he  thought,  the  truth  of  the  vision  on  Salis¬ 
bury  plain.  Similar  stories  might  be  produced, 
showing  plainly  that,  under  the  direction  of  Heaven, 
the  influence  of  superstitious  fear  may  be  the  ap¬ 
pointed  means  of  bringing  the  criminal  to  repentance 
for  his  own  sake,  and  to  punishment  for  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  society. 


312 


LETTERS  ON 


Cases  of  this  kind  are  numerous,  and  easily  ima« 
gined,  so  I  shall  dwell  on  them  no  farther;  but  rather 
advert  to  at  least  an  equally  abundant  class  of  ghost 
stories,  in  which  the  apparition  is  pleased  not  to  tor¬ 
ment  the  actual  murderer,  but  proceeds  in  a  very 
circuitous  manner,  acquainting  some  stranger  or  igno¬ 
rant  old  woman  with  the  particulars  of  his  fate,  v/ho, 
though  perhaps  unacquainted  with  all  the  parties,  is 
directed  by  the  phantom  to  lay  the  facts  before  a  ma¬ 
gistrate.  In  this  respect  we  must  certainly  allow 
that  ghosts  have,  as  we  are  informed  by  the  facetious 
Captain  Grose,  forms  and  customs  peculiar  to  them¬ 
selves. 

There  would  be  no  edification  and  little  amuse¬ 
ment  in  treating  of  clumsy  deceptions  of  this  kind, 
where  the  grossness  of  the  imposture  detects  itself. 
But  occasionally  cases  occur  like  the  following,  with 
respect  to  which  it  is  more  difficult,  to  use  James 
Boswell’s  phrase,  “  to  know  what  to  think.” 

Upon  the  10th  of  June,  1754,  Duncan  Terig,  alias 
Clark,  and  Alexander  Baid  MacDonald,  two  High¬ 
landers,  were  'tried  before  the  Court  of  Justiciar}", 
Edinburgh,  for  the  murder  of  Arthur  Davis,  sergeant 
in  Guise’s  regiment,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1749. 
The  accident  happened  not  long  after  the  civil  war, 
the  embers  of  which  were  still  reeking,  so  there  ex¬ 
isted  too  many  reasons  on  account  of  which  an 
English  soldier,  straggling  far  from  assistance,  might 
be  privately  cut  off  by  the  inhabitants  of  these  wilds. 
It  appears  that  Sergeant  Davis  was  amissing  foi 
years,  without  any  certainty  as  to  his  fate.  At 
length,  an  account  of  the  murder  appeared  from  the 
evidence  of  one  Alexander  MacPherson  (a  High¬ 
lander,  speaking  no  language  but  Gaelic,  and  sworn 
by  an  interpreter),  who  gave  the  following  extraor¬ 
dinary  account  of  his  cause  of  knowledge : — He  was, 
he  said,  in  bed  in  his  cottage,  when  an  apparition 
came  to  his  bedside,  and  commanded  him  to  rise 
and  follow  him  out  of  doors.  Believing  this  visiter 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  313 

to  be  one  Farquharson,  a  neighbour  and  friend,  the 
witness  did  as  he  was  bid ;  and  when  they  were 
without  the  cottage,  the  appearance  told  the  witness 
he  was  the  ghost  of  Sergeant  Davis,  and  requested 
him  to  go  and  bury  his  mortal  remains,  Avhich  lay 
concealed  in  a  place  he  pointed  out,  in  a  moor¬ 
land  tract  called  the  Hill  of  Christie.  He  desired 
him  to  take  Farquharson  with  him  as  an  assistant. 
Next  day  the  witness  went  to  the  place  specified, 
and  there  found  the  bones  of  a  human  body  much 
decayed.  The  witness  did  not  at  that  time  bury  the 
bones  so  found,  in  consequence  of  which  negligence 
the  sergeant’s  ghost  again  appeared  to  him,  upbraid¬ 
ing  him  with  his  breach  of  promise.  On  this  occa¬ 
sion  the  witness  asked  the  ghost  who  were  the  mur¬ 
derers,  and  received  for  answer  that  he  had  been 
slain  by  the  prisoners  at  the  bar.  The  witness,  after 
this  second  visitation,  called  the  assistance  of  Far¬ 
quharson,  and  buried  the  body. 

Farquharson  was  brought  in  evidence,  to  prove 
that  the  preceding  witness,  MacPherson,  had  called 
him  to  the  burial  of  the  bones,  and  told  him  the  same 
story  which  he  repeated  in  court.  Isabel  Mac- 
Hardie,  a  person  who  slept  in  one  of  the  beds  which 
run  along  the  wall  in  an  ordinary  Highland  hut,  de¬ 
clared,  that  upon  the  night  when  MacPherson  said 
he  saw  the  ghost,  she  saw  a  naked  man  enter  the 
house,  and  go  towards  MacPherson’s  bed. 

Yet,  though  the  supernatural  incident  was  thus 
fortified,  and  although  there  were  other  strong  pre¬ 
sumptions  against  the  prisoners,  the  story  of  the  ap¬ 
parition  threw  an  air  of  ridicule  on  the  whole  evi¬ 
dence  for  the  prosecution.  It  was  followed  up  by 
the  counsel  for  the  prisoners  asking,  in  the  cross- 
examination  of  MacPherson,  “What  language  did 
the  ghost  speak  in  1”  The  witness,  who  was  him¬ 
self  ignorant  of  English,  replied,  “As  good  Gaelic 
as  I  ever  heard  in  Lochaber.” — “  Pretty  well  for  the 
ghost  of  an  English  sergeant,”  answered  the  counsel. 

Dd 


314 


LETTERS  ON 


The  inference  was  rather  smart  and  plausible  than 
sound,  for,  the  apparition  of  the  ghost  being  admitted, 
we  know  too  little  of  the  other  world  to  judge  whe¬ 
ther  all  languages  may  not  be  alike  familiar  to  those 
who  belong  to  it.  It  imposed,  however,  on  the  jury, 
who  found  the  accused  parties  Not  Guilty;  although 
their  counsel  and  solicitor,  and  most  of  the  court, 
were  satisfied  of  their  having  committed  the  murder. 
In  this  case,  the  interference  of  the  ghost  seems  to 
have  rather  impeded  the  vengeance  which  it  was 
doubtless  the  murdered  sergeant’s  desire  to  obtain. 
Yet  there  may  be  various  modes  of  explaining  this 
mysterious  story,  of  which  the  following  conjecture 
may  pass  for  one. 

The  reader  may  suppose  that  MacPherson  was 
privy  to  the  fact  of  the  murder,  perhaps  as  an  accom¬ 
plice,  or  otherwise ;  and  may  also  suppose,  that  from 
motives  of  remorse  for  the  action,  or  of  enmity  to 
those  who  had  committed  it,  he  entertained  a  wish 
to  bring  them  to  justice.  But  through  the  whole 
Highlands  there  is  no  character  more  detestable  than 
tfyat  of  an  informer,  or  one  who  takes  what  is  called 
Tascal-money,  or  reward  for  discovery  of  crimes. 
To  have  informed  against  Terig  and  MacDonald 
might  have  cost  MacPherson  his  life ;  and  it  is  far 
from  being  impossible,  that  he  had  recourse  to  the 
story  of  the  ghost,  knowing  well  that  his  supersti¬ 
tious  countrymen  would  pardon  his  communicating 
the  commission  intrusted  to  him  by  a  being  from  the 
other  world,  although  he  might  probably  have  been 
murdered,  if  his  delation  of  the  crime  had  been  sup¬ 
posed  voluntary.  This  explanation,  in  exact  con¬ 
formity  with  the  sentiments  of  the  Highlanders  on 
such  subjects,  would  reduce  the  whole  story  to  a 
stroke  of  address  on  the  part  of  the  witness. 

It  is  therefore  of  the  last  consequence,  in  consi 
dering  the  truth  of  stories  of  ghosts  and  apparitions, 
to  consider  the  possibility  of  wilful  deception,  whether 
on  the  part  of  those  who  are  agents  in  the  supposed 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  315 

disturbances,  or  the  author  of  the  legend.  We  shall 
separately  notice  an  instance  or  two  of  either  kind. 

The  most  celebrated  instance  in  which  human 
agency  was  used  to  copy  the  disturbances  imputed 
to  supernatural  beings,  refers  to  the  ancient  palace 
of  Woodstock,  when  the  Commissioners  of  the  Long 
Parliament  came  down  to  dispark  what  had  been 
lately  a  royal  residence.  The  Commissioners  ar¬ 
rived  at  Woodstock  13th  October,  1649,' determined 
to  wipe  away  the  memory  of  all  that  connected  it¬ 
self  with  the  recollection  of  monarchy  in  England. 
But,  in  the  course  of  their  progress,  they  were  en¬ 
countered  by  obstacles  which  apparently  came  from 
the  next  world.  Their  bedchambers  were  infested 
with  visits  of  a  thing  resembling  a  dog,  but  which 
came  and  passed  as  mere  earthly  dogs  cannot  do. 
Logs  of  wood,  the  remains  of  a  very  large  tree  called 
the  King’s  Oak,  which  they  had  splintered  into 
billets  for  burning,  were  tossed  through  the  house, 
and  the  chairs  displaced  and  shuffled  about.  While 
they  were  in  bed,  the  feet  of  their  couches  were 
lifted  higher  than  their  heads,  and  then  dropped  with 
violence.  Trenchers  “without  a  wish”  flew  at 
their  heads,  of  free  will.  Thunder  and  lightning 
came  next,  which  were  set  down  to  the  same  cause. 
Spectres  made  their  appearance,  as  they  thought,  in 
different  shapes ;  and  one  of  the  party  saw  the  appa¬ 
rition  of  a  hoof,  which  kicked  a  candlestick  and 
lighted  candle  into  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  then 
politely  scratched  on  the  red  snuff  to  extinguish  it. 
Other  and  worse  tricks  were  practised  on  the  as¬ 
tonished  Commissioners,  who,  considering  that  all 
the  fiends  of  hell  were  let  loose  upon  them,  retreated 
from  Woodstock  without  completing  an  errand 
which  was,  in  their  opinion,  impeded  by  infernal 
powers,  though  the  opposition  offered  was  rather  of 
a  playful  and  malicious,  than  of  a  dangerous  cast. 

The  whole  matter  was,  after  the  Restoration,  dis¬ 
covered  to  be  the  trick  of  one  of  their  own  party,  who 


316 


LETTERS  ON 


had  attended  the  Commissioners  as  a  clerk,  under 
the  name  of  Giles  Sharp.  This  man,  whose  real 
name  was  Joseph  Collins  of  Oxford,  called  Funny 
Joe ,  was  a  concealed  loyalist,  and  well  acquainted 
with  the  old  mansion  of  Woodstock,  where  he  had 
been  brought  up  before  the  civil  war.  Being  a  bold, 
active,  spirited  man,  Joe  availed  himself  of  his  local 
knowledge  of  trap-doors  and  private  passages,  so  as 
to  favour  the  tricks  which  he  played  off  upon  his 
masters  by  aid  of  his  fellow-domestics.  The  Com¬ 
missioners’  personal  reliance  on  him  made  his  task 
the  more  easy,  and  it  was  all  along  remarked,  that 
trusty  Giles  Sharp  saw  the  most  extraordinary  sights 
and  visions  among  the  whole  party.  The  unearthly 
terrors  experienced  by  the  Commissioners  are  de¬ 
tailed  with  due  gravity  by  Sinclair,  and  also,  I  think, 
by  Dr.  Plott.  But  although  the  detection,  or  expla¬ 
nation  of  the  real  history  of  the  Woodstock  demons, 
has  also  been  published,  and  I  have  myself  seen  it, 
I  have  at  this  time  forgotten  whether  it  exists  in  a 
separate  collection,  or  where  it  is  to  be  looked  for. 

Similar  disturbances  have  been  often  experienced, 
while  it  was  the  custom  to  believe  in  and  dread  such 
frolics  of  the  invisible  world,  and  under  circum¬ 
stances  which  induce  us  to  wonder,  both  at  the 
extreme  trouble  taken  by  the  agents  in  these  impos¬ 
tures,  and  the  slight  motives  from  which  they  have 
been  induced  to  do  much  wanton  mischief.  Still 
greatei  is  our  modern  surprise  at  the  apparently  sim¬ 
ple  means  by  which  terror  has  been  excited  to  so 
general  an  extent,  that  even  the  wisest  and  most 
prudent  have  not  escaped  its  contagious  influence. 

On  the  first  point,  I  am  afraid  there  can  be  no 
better  reason  assigned  than  the  conscious  pride  of 
superiority,  which  induces  the  human  being  in  all 
cases  to  enjoy  and  practise  every  means  of  employ¬ 
ing  an  influence  over  his  fellow-mortals ;  to  which 
we  may  safely  add,  that  general  love  of  tormenting, 
as  common  to  our  race,  as  to  that  noble  mimic  of 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  317 

humanity,  the  monkey.  To  this  is  owing  the  delight 
with  which  every  schoolboy  anticipates  the  effects 
of  throwing  a  stone  into  a  glass  shop ;  and  to  this 
we  must  also  ascribe  the  otherwise  unaccountable 
pleasure  winch  individuals  have  taken  in  practising 
die  tricksy  pranks  of  a  goblin,  and  filling  a  house¬ 
hold,  or  neighbourhood,  with  anxiety  and  dismay, 
with  little  gratification  to  themselves  besides  the 
consciousness  of  dexterity  if  they  remain  undisco 
vered,  and  with  the  risk  of  loss  of  character,  and 
punishment,  should  the  imposture  be  found  out. 

In  the  year  1772,  a  train  of  transactions  commenc¬ 
ing  upon  Twelfth  Day,  threw  the  utmost  consterna¬ 
tion  into  the  village  of  Stockwell,  near  London,  and 
impressed  upon  some  of  its  inhabitants  the  inevitable 
belief  that  they  were  produced  by  invisible  agents, 
fhe  plates,  dishes,  china,  and  glass-ware,  and  small 
moveables  of  every  kind,  contained  in  the  house  of 
Mrs.  Golding,  an  elderly  lady,  seemed  suddenly  to 
become  animated,  shifted  their  places,  flew  through 
the  room,  and  were  broken  to  pieces.  The  parti¬ 
culars  of  this  commotion  were  as  curious,  as  the  loss 
and  damage  occasioned  in  this  extraordinary  manner 
were  alarming  and  intolerable.  Amid  this  combus¬ 
tion,  a  young  woman,  Mrs.  Golding’s  maid,  named 
Anne  Robinson,  was  walking  backwards  and  for¬ 
wards,  nor  could  she  be  prevailed  on  to  sit  down 
for  a  moment,  excepting  wrhile  the  family  were  at 
prayers,  during  which  time  no  disturbance  happened. 
This  Anne  Robinson  had  been  but  a  few  days  in  the 
old  lady’s  service,  and  it  was  remarkable  that  she 
endured  with  great  composure  the  extraordinary 
display  which  others  beheld  with  terror,  and  coolly 
advised  her  mistress  not  to  be  alarmed  or  uneasy,  as 
these  things  could  not  be  helped.  This  excited  an 
idea  that  she  had  some  reason  for  being  so  composed, 
not  inconsistent  with  a  degree  of  connexion  with 
what  was  going  forward.  The  afflicted  Mrs.  Gold¬ 
ing,  as  she  might  be  well  termed,  considering  such  a 

D  d  2 


318 


LETTERS  ON 


commotion  and  demolition  among  her  goods  and 
chattels,  invited  neighbours  to  stay  in  her  house,  but 
they  soon  became  unable  to  bear  the  sight  of  these 
supernatural  proceedings,  which  went  so  far,  that  not 
above  two  cups  and  saucers  remained  out  of  a  valu¬ 
able  set  of  china.  She  next  abandoned  her  dwelling, 
and  took  refuge  with  a  neighbour,  but,  finding  his 
moveables  were  seized  with  the  same  sort  of  St, 
Vitus’s  dance,  her  landlord  reluctantly  refused  to 
shelter  any  longer  a  woman  who  seemed  to  be  per¬ 
secuted  by  so  strange  a  subject  of  vexation.  Mrs. 
Golding’s  suspicions  against  Anne  Robinson  now 
gaining  ground,  she  dismissed  her  maid,  and  the 
hubbub  among  her  moveables  ceased  at  once  and  for 
ever. 

This  circumstance  of  itself  indicates  that  Anne 
Robinson  was  the  cause  of  these  extraordinary  dis¬ 
turbances,  as  has  been  since  more  completely  ascer¬ 
tained  by  a  Mr.  Brayfield,  who  persuaded  Anne,  long 
after  the  events  had  happened,  to  make  him  her  con¬ 
fidant.  There  was  a  love-story  connected  with  the 
case,  in  which  the  only  magic  was  the  dexterity  of 
Anne  Robinson,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  spectators. 
She  had  fixed  long  horse  hairs  to  some  of  the 
crockery,  and  placed  wires  under  others,  by  which 
she  could  throw  them  down  without  touching  them. 
Other  things  she  dexterously  threw  about,  which  the 
spectators,  who  did  not  watch  her  motions,  imputed 
to  invisible  agency.  At  times,  when  the  family 
were  absent,  she  loosened  the  hold  of  the  strings  by 
which  the  hams,  bacon,  and  similar  articles  were 
suspended,  so  that  they  fell  on  the  slightest  motion. 
She  employed  some  simple  chymical  secrets ;  and, 
delighted  with  the  success  of  her  pranks,  pushed 
them  farther  than  she  at  first  intended.  Such  was 
the  solution  of  the  whole  mystery,  which,  known  by 
the  name  of  the  Stockwell  ghost,  terrified  many  well- 
meaning  persons,  and  had  been  nearly  as  famous  as 
that  of  Cock-lane,  which  may  be  hinted  at  as  another 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  319 

imposture  of  the  same  kind.  So  many  and  wonder¬ 
ful  are  the  appearances  described,  that,  when  I  first 
met  with  the  original  publication,  I  was  strongly 
impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  narrative  was,  like 
some  of  Swift’s  advertisements,  a  jocular  experiment 
upon  the  credulity  of  the  public.  But  it  was  cer¬ 
tainly  published  bona  fide,  and  Mr.  Hone,  on  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Brayfield,  has  since  fully  explained 
the  wonder.* 

Many  such  impositions  have  been  detected,  and 
many  others  have  been  successfully  concealed ;  but 
to  know  what  has  been  discovered  in  many  in¬ 
stances,  gives  us  the  assurance  of  the  ruling  cause 
in  all.  I  remember  a  scene  of  the  kind  attempted 
to  be  got  up  near  Edinburgh,  but  detected  at  once 
by  a  sheriff’s  officer,  a  sort  of  persons  whose  habits 
of  incredulity  and  suspicious  observation  render 
them  very  dangerous  spectators  on  such  occasions. 
The  late  excellent  Mr.  Walker,  minister  at  Dunottar, 
in  the  Mearns,  gave  me  a  curious  account  of  an  im¬ 
posture  of  this  kind,  practised  by  a  young  country 
girl,  who  was  surprisingly  quick  at  throwing  stones, 
turf,  and  other  missiles,  with  such  dexterity,  that  it 
was  for  a  long  time  impossible  to  ascertain  her 
agency  in  the  disturbances  of  which  she  was  the 
sole  cause. 

The  belief  of  the  spectators  that  such  scenes  of 
disturbance  arise  from  invisible  beings,  will  appear 
less  surprising,  if  we  consider  the  common  feats  of 
jugglers,  or  professors  of  legerdemain,  and  recollect 
that  it  is  only  the  frequent  exhibition  of  such  powers 
which  reconciles  us  to  them  as  matters  of  course, 
although  they  are  wonders  at  which,  in  our  fathers’ 
time,  men  would  have  cried  out  either  sorcery  or 
miracles.  The  spectator  also,  who  has  been  him¬ 
self  duped,  makes  no  very  respectable  appearance 
when  convicted  of  his  error;  and  thence,  if  too  can- 


*  See  Hone's  Every-Day  Book,  p.  62. 


320 


LETTERS  ON 


did  to  add  to  the  evidence  of  supernatural  agency, 
is  yet  unwilling  to  stand  convicted,  by  cross-exami¬ 
nation,  of  having  been  imposed  on,  and  uncon¬ 
sciously  becomes  disposed  rather  to  colour  more 
highly  than  the  truth,  than  acquiesce  in  an  explana¬ 
tion  resting  on  his  having  been  too  hasty  a  believer. 
Very  often,  too,  the  detection  depends  upon  the 
combination  of  certain  circumstances,  which,  appre¬ 
hended,  necessarily  explain  the  whole  story. 

For  example,  I  once  heard  a  sensible  and  intelli¬ 
gent  friend  in  company,  express  himself  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  a  wonderful  story  told  him  by  an  in¬ 
telligent  and  bold  man,  about  an  apparition.  The 
scene  lay  in  an  ancient  castle  on  the  coast  of  Mor- 
ven,  or  the  Isle  of  Mull,  where  the  ghost-seer 
chanced  to  be  resident.  He  was  given  to  under¬ 
stand  by  the  family,  when  betaking  himself  to  rest, 
that  the  chamber  in  which  he  slept  was  occasionally 
disquieted  by  supernatural  appearances.  Being  at 
that  time  no  believer  in  such  stories,  he  attended 
little  to  this  hint,  until  the  witching  hour  of  night, 
when  he  was  awakened  from  a  dead  sleep  by  the 
pressure  of  a  human  hand  on  his  body.  He  looked 
up  at  the  figure  of  a  tall  Highlander  in  the  antique 
and  picturesque  dress  of  his  country,  only  that  his 
brows  were  bound  with  a  bloody  bandage.  Struck 
with  sudden  and  extreme  fear,  he  was  willing  to 
have  sprung  from  bed,  but  the  spectre  stood  before 
him  in  the  bright  moonlight,  its  one  arm  extended, 
so  as  to  master  him  if  he  attempted  to  rise;  the 
other  hand  held  up  in  a  warning  and  grave  posture, 
as  menacing  the  Lowlander  if  he  should  attempt  to 
quit  his  recumbent  posture.  Thus  he  lay  in  mortal 
agony  for  more  than  an  hour,  after  which  it  pleased 
the  spectre  of  ancient  days  to  leave  him  to  more 
sound  repose.  So  singular  a  story  had  on  its  side 
the  usual  number  of  votes  from  the  company,  till, 
upon  cross-examination,  it  was  explained  that  the 
principal  person  concerned  was  an  exciseman;  after 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


321 


which  eclaircissement ,  the  same  explanation  struck 
all  present,  viz.,  that  the  Highlanders  of  the  mansion 
had  chosen  to  detain  the  exciseman  by  the  appari¬ 
tion  of  an  ancient  heroic  ghost,  in  order  to  disguise 
from  his  vigilance  the  removal  of  certain  modern 
enough  spirits,  which  his  duty  might  have  called 
upon  him  to  seize.  Here  a  single  circumstance  ex¬ 
plained  the  whole  ghost  story. 

At  other  times  it  happens  that  the  meanness  and 
trilling  nature  of  a  cause  not  very  obvious  to  obser¬ 
vation,  has  occasioned  it  to  be  entirely  overlooked, 
even  on  account  of  that  very  meanness,  since  no 
one  is  willing  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  been 
alarmed  by  a  cause  of  little  consequence,  and  which 
he  would  be  ashamed  of  mentioning.  An  incident 
of  this  sort  happened  to  a  gentleman  of  birth  and 
distinction,  who  is  well  known  in  the  political  world, 
and  was  detected  by  the  precision  of  his  observa¬ 
tion.  Shortly  after  he  succeeded  to  his  estate  and 
title,  there  was  a  rumour  among  his  servants  con¬ 
cerning  a  strange  noise  heard  in  the  family-mansion 
at  night,  the  cause  of  which  they  had  found  it  im¬ 
possible  to  trace.  The  gentleman  resolved  to  watch 
himself,  with  a  domestic  who  had  grown  old  in  the 
family,  and  who  had  begun  to  murmur  strange  things 
concerning  the  knocking  having  followed  so  close 
upon  the  death  of  his  old  master.  They  watched 
until  the  noise  was  heard,  which  they  listened  to 
with  that  strange  uncertainty  attending  midnight 
sounds,  which  prevents  the  hearers  from  imme¬ 
diately  tracing  them  to  the  spot  where  they  arise, 
while  the  silence  of  the  night  generally  occasions 
the  imputing  to  them  more  than  the  due  importance 
which  they  would  receive,  if  mingled  with  the  usual 
noises  of  daylight.  At  length  the  gentleman  and 
his  servant  traced  the  sounds  which  they  had  re¬ 
peatedly  heard,  to  a  small  store-room,  used  as  a 
place  for  keeping  provisions  of  various  kinds  for  the 
family,  of  which  the  old  butler  had  the  key.  They 


322 


LETTERS  ON 


entered  this  place,  and  remained  there  for  some  time, 
without  hearing  the  noises  which  they  had  traced 
thither ;  at  length  th6  sound  was  heard,  but  much 
lower  than  it  had  formerly  seemed  to  be,  while  acted 
upon  at  a  distance  by  the  imagination  of  the  hearers. 
The  cause  was  immediately  discovered.  A  rat 
caught  in  an  old-fashioned  trap  had  occasioned  this 
tumult,  by  its  efforts  to  escape,  in  which  it  was  able 
to  raise  the  trap-door  of  its  prison  to  a  certain 
height,  but  was  then  obliged  to  drop  it.  The  noise 
of  the  fall  resounding  through  the  house,  had  occa¬ 
sioned  the  disturbance  which,  but  for  the  cool  inves¬ 
tigation  of  the  proprietor,  might  easily  have  esta¬ 
blished  an  accredited  ghost  story.  The  circum¬ 
stance  was  told  me  by  the  gentleman  to  whom  it 
happened. 

There  are  other  occasions  in  which  the  ghost  story 
is  rendered  credible  by  some  remarkable  combination 
of  circumstances  very  unlikely  to  have  happened,  and 
which  no  one  could  have  supposed,  unless  some  par¬ 
ticular  fortune  occasioned  a  discovery. 

An  apparition  which  took  place  at  Plymouth  is  well 
known,  but  it  has  been  differently  related ;  and  having 
some  reason  to  think  the  following  edition  correct,  it 
is  an  incident  so  much  to  my  purpose,  that  you  must 
pardon  its  insertion. 

A  club  of  persons  connected  with  science  and  lite¬ 
rature,  was  formed  at  the  great  sea-town  we  have 
named.  During  the  summer  months,  the  society 
met  in  a  cave  by  the  sea-shore ;  during  those  of 
autumn  and  winter,  they  convened  within  the  pre¬ 
mises  of  a  tavern,  but,  for  the  sake  of  privacy,  had 
their  meetings  in  a  summer-house  situated  in  the 
garden,  at  a  distance  from  the  main  building.  Some 
of  the  members  to  whom  the  position  of  their  own 
dwellings  rendered  this  convenient,  had  a  pass  key 
to  the  garden-door,  by  which  they  could  enter  the 
garden  and  reach  the  summer-house  without  the 
publicity  or  trouble  of  passing  through  the  open 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  323 

tavern.  It  was  the  rule  of  this  club  that  its  mem¬ 
bers  presided  alternately.  On  one  occasion,  in  the 
winter,  the  president  of  the  evening  chanced  to  be 
very  ill ;  indeed,  was  reported  to  be  on  his  death-bed. 
The  club  met  as  usual,  and,  from  a  sentiment  of  re¬ 
spect,  left  vacant  the  chair  which  ought  to  have  been 
occupied  by  him,  if  in  his  usual  health ;  for  the  same 
reason,  the  conversation  turned  upon  the  absent  gen¬ 
tleman’s  talents,  and  the  loss  expected  to  the  society 
by  his  death.  While  they  were  upon  this  melan¬ 
choly  theme,  the  door  suddenly  opened,  and  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  president  entered  the  room.  He 
wore  a  white  wrapper,  a  nightcap  round  his  brow, 
the  appearance  of  which  was  that  of  death  itself. 
He  stalked  into  the  room  with  unusual  gravity,  took 
the  vacant  place  of  ceremony,  lifted  the  empty  glass 
which  stood  before  him,  bowed  around,  and  put  it  to 
his  lips ;  then  replaced  it  on  the  table,  and  stalked 
out  of  the  room  as  silent  as  he  had  entered  it.  The 
company  remained  deeply  appalled ;  at  length,  after 
many  observations  on  the  strangeness  of  what  they 
had  seen,  they  resolved  to  despatch  two  of  their 
number  as  ambassadors,  to  see  how  it  fared  with  the 
president,  who  had  thus  strangely  appeared  among 
them.  They  went,  and  returned  with  the  frightful 
intelligence,  that  the  friend,  after  whom  they  had 
inquired,  was  that  evening  deceased. 

The  astonished  party  then  resolved  that  they 
would  remain  absolutely  silent  respecting  the  won¬ 
derful  sight  which  they  had  seen.  Their  habits  were 
too  philosophical  to  permit  them  to  believe  that  they 
had  actually  seen  the  ghost  of  their  deceased  bro¬ 
ther,  and  at  the  same  time  they  were  too  wise  men, 
to  wish  to  confirm  the  superstition  of  the  vulgar,  by 
what  might  seem  indubitable  evidence  of  a  ghost. 
The  affair  was  therefore  kept  a  strict  secret,  although, 
as  usual,  some  dubious  rumours  of  the  tale  found 
their  way  to  the  public.  Several  years  afterward, 
an  old  woman  who  had  long  filled  the  place  of  a  sick- 


J24 


LETTERS  ON 


nurse,  was  taken  very  ill,  and  on  her  death-bed  was 
attended  by  a  medical  member  of  the  philosophical 
club.  To  him,  with  many  expressions  of  regret,  she 
acknowledged  that  she  had  long  before  attended  Mr, 

- ,  naming  the  president,  whose  appearance  had 

surprised  the  club  so  strangely,  and  that  she  felt  dis¬ 
tress  of  conscience  on  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  died.  She  said,  that  as  his  malady  was  at¬ 
tended  by  light-headedness,  she  had  been  directed  to 
keep  a  close  watch  upon  him  during  his  illness. 
Unhappily  she  slept,  and  during  her  sleep  the  patient 
had  awaked,  and  left  the  apartment.  When  on  her 
own  waking,  she  found  the  bed  empty  and  the  patient 
gone,  she  forthwith  hurried  out  of  the  house  to  seek 
him,  and  met  him  in  the  act  of  returning.  She  got 
him,  she  said,  replaced  in  the  bed,  but  it  was  only  to 
die  there.  She  added,  to  convince  her  hearer  of  the 
truth  of  what  she  said,  that  immediately  after  the 
poor  gentleman  expired,  a  deputation  of  two  mem¬ 
bers  from  the  club  came  to  inquire  after  their  presi¬ 
dent’s  health,  and  received  for  answer  that  he  was 
already  dead.  This  confession  explained  the  whole 
matter.  The  delirious  patient  had  very  naturally 
taken  the  road  to  the  club,  from  some  recollections 
of  his  duty  of  the  night.  In  approaching  and  retiring 
from  the  apartment,  he  had  used  one  of  the  pass-keys 
already  mentioned,  which  made  his  way  shorter.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  gentlemen  sent  to  inquire  after  his 
health  had  reached  his  lodging  by  a  more  circuitous 
road ;  and  thus  there  had  been  time  for  him  to  return 
to  what  proved  his  death-bed,  long  before  they 
reached  his  chamber.  Tire  philosophical  witnesses 
of  this  strange  scene  were  now  as  anxious  to  spread 
the  story  as  they  had  formerly  been  to  conceal  it, 
since  it  showed  in  what  a  remarkable  manner  men’s 
eyes  might  turn  traitors  to  them,  and  impress  them 
with  ideas  far  different  from  the  truth. 

Another  occurrence  of  the  same  kind,  although 
scarcely  so  striking  in  its  circumstances,  was  yet 


DEMONOIX)GY  and  witchcraft. 


325 


one  which,  had  it  remained  unexplained,  might  have 
passed  as  an  indubitable  instance  of  a  supernatural 
apparition. 

A  Teviotdale  farmer  was  riding  from  a  fair,  at 
which  he  had  indulged  himself  with  John  Barley¬ 
corn,  but  not  to  that  extent  of  defying  goblins  which 
it  inspired  into  the  gallant  Tam  O’Shanter.  He  was 
pondering  with  some  anxiety  upon  the  dangers  of 
travelling  alone  on  a  solitary  road,  which  passed  the 
corner  of  a  churchyard,  now  near  at  hand,  when  he 
saw  before  him,  in  the  moonlight,  a  pale  female 
form  standing  upon  the  very  wall  which  surrounded 
the  cemetery.  The  road  was  very  narrow,  with  no 
opportunity  of  giving  the  apparent,  phantom  what 
seamen  call  a  wide  birth.  It  was,  however,  the  only 
path  which  led  to  the  rider’s  home,  who  therefore 
resolved,  at  all  risks,  to  pass  the  apparition.  He 
accordingly  approached,  as  slowly  as  possible,  the 
spot  where  the  spectre  stood,  while  the  figure  re¬ 
mained,  now  perfectly  still  and  silent,  now  bran¬ 
dishing  its  arms,  and  gibbering  to  the  moon.  When 
the  farmer  came  close  to  the  spot,  he  dashed  in  the 
spurs,  and  set  the  horse  off  upon  a  gallop ;  but  the 
spectre  did  not  miss  its  opportunity.  As  he  passed 
the  corner  where  she  was  perched,  she  contrived  to 
drop  behind  the  horseman,  and  seize  him  round  the 
waist ;  a  manoeuvre  which  greatly  increased  the 
speed  of  the  horse,  and  the  terror  of  the  rider ;  for 
the  hand  of  her  who  sat  behind  him,  when  pressed 
upon  his,  felt  as  cold  as  that  of  a  corpse.  At  his 
own  house  at  length  he  arrived,  and  bid  the  servants 
who  came  to  attend  him,  “  Tak  aff  the  ghaist !” 
They  took  off  accordingly  a  female  in  white,  and 
the  poor  farmer  himself  tvas  conveyed  to  bed,  where 
he  lay  struggling  for  weeks  with  a  strong  nervous 
fever.  The  female  was  found  to  be  a  maniacj  who 
had  been  left  a  widow  very  suddenly  by  an  affec¬ 
tionate  husband,  and  the  nature  and  cause  of  her 
malady  induced  her,  when  she  could  make  her  es- 

Ee 


326 


LETTERS  ON 


cape,  to  wander  to  the  churchyard,  where  she  some¬ 
times  wildly  wept  over  his  grave,  and  sometimes 
standing  on  the  corner  of  the  churchyard  wall, 
looked  out,  and  mistook  every  stranger  on  horse¬ 
back  for  the  husband  she  had  lost.  If  this  woman, 
which  was  very  possible,  had  dropped  from  the  horse 
unobserved  by  him  whom  she  had  made  her  invo¬ 
luntary  companion,  it  would  have  been  very  hard  to 
have  convinced  the  honest  farmer  that  he  had  not  ac¬ 
tually  performed  part  of  his  journey  with  a  ghost 
behind  him. 

There  is  also  a  large  class  of  stories  of  this  sort, 
where  various  secrets  of  chymistry,  of  acoustics, 
ventriloquism,  or  other  arts,  have  been  either  em¬ 
ployed  to  dupe  the  spectators,  or  have  tended  to  do 
so  through  mere  accident  and  coincidence.  Of  these 
it  is  scarce  necessary  to  quote  instances ;  but  the  fol¬ 
lowing  may  be  told  as  a  tale  recounted  by  a  foreign 
nobleman,  known  to  me  nearly  thirty  years  ago, 
whose  life,  lost  in  the  service  of  his  sovereign, 
proved  too  short  for  his  friends  and  his  native  land. 

At  a  certain  old  castle  on  the  confines  of  Hun¬ 
gary,  the  lord  to  whom  it  belonged  had  determined 
upon  giving  an  entertainment  worthy  of  his  own 
rank,  and  of  the  magnificence  of  the  antique  man¬ 
sion  which  he  inhabited.  The  guests  of  course 
were  numerous,  and  among  them  was  a  veteran  of¬ 
ficer  of  hussars,  remarkable  for  his  bravery.  When 
the  arrangements  for  the  night  Avere  made,  this  of¬ 
ficer  was  informed  that  there  Avould  be  difficulty  in 
accommodating  the  company  in  the  castle,  large  as 
it  Avas,  unless  some  one  Avould  take  the  risk  of 
sleeping  in  a  room  supposed  to  be  haunted ;  and  that 
as  he  was  known  to  be  above  such  prejudices,  the 
apartment  Avas,  in  the  first  place,  proposed  for  his 
occupation,  as  the  person  least  likely  to  suffer  a  bad 
night’s  rest  from  such  a  cause.  The  Major  thank¬ 
fully  accepted  the  preference,  and  having  shared  the 
festivity  of  the  evening,  retired  after  midnight. 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


327 


having  denounced  vengeance  against  any  one  who 
should  presume  by  any  trick  to  disturb  his  repose ; 
a  threat  which  his  habits  would,  it  was  sup¬ 
posed,  render  him  sufficiently  ready  to  execute. 
Somewhat  contrary  to  the  custom  in  these  cases,  the 
Major  went  to  bed,  having  left  his  candle  burning, 
and  laid  his  trusty  pistols  carefully  loaded  on  the 
table  by  his  bedside. 

He  had  not  slept  an  hour  when  he  was  awakened 
by  a  solemn  strain  of  music — he  looked  out.  Three 
ladies,  fantastically  dressed  in  green,  were  seen 
in  the  lower  end  of  the  apartment,  who  sung  a  so¬ 
lemn  requiem.  The  Major  listened  for  some  time 
with  delight;  at  length  he  tired — “Ladies,”  he  said, 
“  this  is  very  well,  but  somewhat  monotonous — will 
you  be  so  kind  as  to  change  the  tune  1”  The  ladies 
continued  singing;  he  expostulated,  but  the  music 
was  not  interrupted.  The  Major  began  to  grow  an¬ 
gry  :  “Ladies,”  he  said,  “  I  must  consider  this  as  a 
trick  for  the  purpose  of  terrifying  me,  and  as  I  re¬ 
gard  it  as  an  impertinence,  I  shall  take  a  rough  mode 
of  stopping  it.”  With  that  he  began  to  handle  his 
pistols.  The  ladies  sung  on.  He  then  got  seriously 
angry — “  I  will  but  wait  five  minutes,”  he  said, 
*  and  then  fire  without  hesitation.”  The  song  was 
uninterrupted — the  five  minutes  were  expired — “  I 
still  give  you  law,  ladies,”  he  said,  “  while  I  count 
twenty.”  This  produced  as  little  effect  as  his  for¬ 
mer  threats.  He  counted  one,  two,  three,  accord¬ 
ingly;  but  on  approaching  the  end  of  the  number, 
and  repeating  more  than  once  his  determination  to 
fire,  the  last  numbers  seventeen — eighteen — nine¬ 
teen,  were  pronounced  with  considerable  pauses  be¬ 
tween,  and  an  assurance  that  the  pistols  were  cocked. 
The  ladies  sung  on.  As  he  pronounced  the  word 
twenty  he  fired  both  pistols  against  the  musical  dam¬ 
sels  ; — but  the  ladies  sung  on !  The  Major  was  over¬ 
come  by  the  unexpected  inefficacy  of  his  violence, 
and  had  an  illness  which  lasted  more  than  three 


328 


LETTERS  ON 


weeks.  The  trick  put  upon  him  may  be  shortly 
described  by  the  fact,  that  the  female  choristers  were 
placed  in  an  adjoining  room,  and  that  he  only  fired  at 
their  reflection  thrown  forward  into  that  in  which  he 
slept  by  the  effect  of  a  concave  mirror. 

Other  stories  of  the  same  kind  are  numerous  and 
well  known.  The  apparition  of  the  Brocken  mountain 
after  having  occasioned  great  admiration  and  some 
fear,  is  now  ascertained  by  philosophers  to  be  a  gi¬ 
gantic  reflection,  which  makes  the  traveller’s  shadow, 
represented  upon  the  misty  clouds,  appear  a  colossal 
figure  of  almost  immeasurable  size.  By  a  similar 
deception,  men  have  been  induced,  in  Westmoreland 
and  other  mountainous  countries,  to  imagine  they 
saw  troops  of  horse  and  armies  marching  and  coun¬ 
termarching,  which  were  in  fact  only  the  reflection 
of  horses  pasturing  upon  an  opposite  height,  or  of 
the  forms  of  peaceful  travellers. 

A  very  curious  case  of  this  kind  was  communi¬ 
cated  to  me  by  the  son  of  the  lady  principally  con¬ 
cerned,  and  tends  to  show  out  of  what  mean  mate¬ 
rials  a  venerable  apparition  may  be  sometimes 
formed.  In  youth,  this  lady  resided  with  her  father, 
a  man  of  sense  and  resolution.  Their  house  was 
situated  in  the  principal  street  of  a  town  of  some  size. 
The  back  part  of  the  house  ran  at  right  angles  to  an 
Anabaptist  chapel,  divided  from  it  by  a  small  cab¬ 
bage-garden.  The  young  lady  used  sometimes  to 
indulge  the  romantic  love  of  solitude,  by  sitting  in 
her  own  apartment  in  the  evening  till  twilight,  and 
even  darkness  was  approaching.  One  evening  while 
she  was  thus  placed,  she  was  surprised  to  see  a  gleamy 
figure,  as  of  some  aerial  being  hovering,  as  it  were, 
against  the  arched  window  in  the  end  of  the  Anabap¬ 
tist  chapel.  Its  head  was  surrounded  by  that  halo 
which  painters  give  to  the  Catholic  saints;  and, 
while  the  young  lady’s  attention  was  fixed  on  an  ob¬ 
ject  so  extraordinary,  the  figure  bent  gracefully  to¬ 
wards  her  more  than  once,  as  if  intimating  a  sense 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT. 


329 


of  her  presence,  and  then  disappeared.  The  seer  of 
this  striking  vision  descended  to  her  family,  so  much 
discomposed  as  to  call  her  father’s  attention.  He 
obtained  an  account  of  the  cause  of  her  disturbance, 
and  expressed  his  intention  to  watch  in  the  apart¬ 
ment  next  night.  He  sat,  accordingly,  in  his  daugh¬ 
ter’s  chamber,  where  she  also  attended  him.  Twi¬ 
light  came,  and  nothing  appeared ;  but  as  the  gray 
light  faded  into  darkness,  the  same  female  figure 
was  seen  hovering  on  the  window ;  the  same  shadowy 
form ;  the  same  pale  light  around  the  head ;  the  same 
inclinations,  as  the  evening  before.  “  What  do  you 
think  of  this  1”  said  the  daughter  to  the  astonished 
father. — “  Any  thing,  my  dear,”  said  the  father,  “  ra¬ 
ther  than  allow  that  we  look  upon  what  is  superna¬ 
tural.” — A  strict  research  established  a  natural  cause 
for  the  appearance  on  the  window.  It  was  the  cus¬ 
tom  of  an  old  woman,  to  whom  the  garden  beneath 
was  rented,  to  go  out  at  night  to  gather  cabbages. 
The  lantern  she  carried  in  her  hand  threw  up  the  re¬ 
fracted  reflection  of  her  form  on  the  chapel  window. 
As  she  stooped  to  gather  her  cabbages,  the  reflection 
appeared  to  bend  forward ;  and  that  was  the  whole 
matter. 

Another  species  of  deception  affecting  the  credit 
of  such  supernatural  communications,  arises  from 
the  dexterity  and  skill  of  the  authors  who  have  made 
it  their  business  to  present  such  stories  in  the  shape 
most  likely  to  attract  belief.  Defoe — whose  power 
in  rendering  credible  that  which  was  in  itself  very 
much  the  reverse  was  so  peculiarly  distinguished — 
has  not  failed  to  show  his  superiority  in  this  species 
of  composition.  A  bookseller  of  his  acquaintance 
had,  in  the  trade  phrase,  rather  overprinted  an  edition 
of  Drelincourt  on  Death,  and  complained  to  Defoe 
of  the  loss  which  was  likely  to  ensue.  The  expe¬ 
rienced  bookmaker,  with  the  purpose  of  recommend¬ 
ing  the  edition,  advised  his  friend  to  prefix  the  cele¬ 
brated  narrative  of  Mrs.  Veal’s  ghost,  which  he  wrote 

E@  9 


330 


LETTERS  ON 


for  the  occasion,  with  such  an  air  of  truth,  that 
although,  in  fact,  it  does  not  afford  a  single  tittle  of 
evidence  properly  so  called,  it  nevertheless  "was 
swallowed  so  eagerly  by  the  people,  that  Drelin- 
eourt’s  work  on  Death,  which  the  supposed  spirit  re¬ 
commended  to  the  perusal  of  her  friend  Mrs.  Bar- 
grave,  instead  of  sleeping  on  the  editor’s  shelf, 
moved  off  by  thousands  at  once ;  the  story,  incredible 
in  itself,  and  unsupported  as  it  was  by  evidence  or 
inquiry,  was  received  as  true,  merely  from  the  cun¬ 
ning  of  the  narrator,  and  the  addition  of  a  number 
of  adventitious  circumstances,  which  no  man  alive 
could  have  conceived  as  having  occurred  to  the  mind 
of  a  person  composing  a  fiction. 

It  did  not  require  the  talents  of  Defoe,  though  in 
that  species  of  composition  he  must  stand  unrivalled, 
to  fix  the  public  attention  on  a  ghost  story.  John 
Dunton,  a  man  of  scribbling  celebrity  at  the  time, 
succeeded  to  a  great  degree  in  imposing  upon  the 
public  a  tale  which  he  calls  the  Apparition  Evidence. 
The  beginning  of  it  at  least,  for  it  is  of  great  length, 
has  something  in  it  a  little  new.  At  Mynehead,  in 
Somersetshire,  lived  an  ancient  gentlewoman,  named 
Mrs.  Leckie,  whose  only  son  and  daughter  resided 
in  family  with  her.  The  son  traded  to  Ireland,  and 
was  supposed  to  be  worth  eight  or  ten  thousand 
pounds.  They  had  a  child  about  five  or  six  years 
old.  This  family  was  generally  respected  in  Myne¬ 
head  ;  and  especially  Mrs.  Leckie,  the  old  lady,  was 
so  pleasant  in  society,  that  her  friends  used  to  say 
to  her,  and  to  each  other,  that  it  was  a  thousand 
pities  such  an  excellent,  good-humoured  gentle 
woman  must,  from  her  age,  be  soon  lost  to  her 
friends.  To  which  Mrs.  Leckie  often  made  the 
somewhat  startling  reply :  “  For  as  much  as  you  now 
seem  to  like  me,  I  am  afraid  you  will  but  little  care 
to  see  or  speak  with  me  after  my  death,  though  I  be¬ 
lieve  you  may  have  that  satisfaction.”  Die,  how¬ 
ever,  she  did,  and  after  her  funeral,  was  repeatedly 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  331 

seen  in  her  personal  likeness,  at  home  and  abroad, 
by  night  and  by  noon-day. 

One  story  is  told,  of  a  doctor  of  physic  walking 
into  the  fields,  who  in  his  return  met  with  this  spec¬ 
tre,  whom  he  at  first  accosted  civilly,  and  paid  her 
the  courtesy  of  handing  her  over  a  style ;  observing, 
however,  that  she  did  not  move  her  lips  in  speaking, 
or  her  eyes  in  looking  round,  he  became  suspicious 
of  the  condition  of  his  companion,  and  showed  some 
desire  to  be  rid  of  her  society.  Offended  at  this,  the 
hag  at  next  style  planted  herself  upon  it,  and  ob¬ 
structed  his  passage.  He  got  through  at  length 
with  some  difficulty,  and  not  without  a  sound  kick, 
and  an  admonition  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  next 
aged  gentlewoman  whom  he  met.  “  But  this,”  says 
John  Dunton,  “  was  a  petty  and  inconsiderable  prank 
to  what  she  played  in  her  son’s  house,  and  elsewhere. 
She  would  at  noon-day  appear  upon  the  key  of  Myne- 
head,  and  cry,  ‘  A  boat,  a  boat,  ho !  a  boat,  a  boat, 
ho !’  If  any  boatmen  or  seamen  were  in  sight  and 
did  not  come,  they  were  sure  to  be  cast  away ;  and 
if  they  did  come,  ’t  was  all  one,  they  were  cast  away. 
It  was  equally  dangerous  to  please  and  displease 
her.  Her  son  had  several  ships  sailing  between  Ire¬ 
land  and  England ;  no  sooner  did  they  make  land, 
and  come  in  sight  of  England,  but  this  ghost  would 
appear  in  the  same  garb  and  likeness  as  when  she 
was  alive,  and,  standing  at  the  mainmast,  would  blow 
with  a  whistle,  and  though  it  were  never  so  great  a 
calm,  yet  immediately  there  would  arise  a  most 
dreadful  storm,  that  would  break,  wreck,  and  drown 
the  ship  and  goods,  only  the  seamen  would  escape 
with  their  lives — the  Devil  had  no  permission  from 
God  to  take  them  away.  Yet  at  this  rate,  by  her 
frequent  apparitions  and  disturbances,  she  had  made 
a  poor  merchant  of  her  son,  for  his  fair  estate  was  all 
buried  in  the  sea,  and  he  that  was  once  worth  thou¬ 
sands  was  reduced  to  a  very  poor  and  low  condition 
in  the  world ;  for  whether  the  ship  was  his  own  or 


332 


LETTERS  ON 


hired,  or  he  had  but  goods  on  board  it  to  the  value  of 
twenty  shillings,  this  troublesome  ghost  would  come 
as  before,  whistle  in  a  calm  at  the  mainmast  at  noon¬ 
day,  when  they  had  descried  land,  and  then  ship  and 
goods  went  all  out  of  hand  to  wreck ;  insomuch  that 
he  could  at  last  get  no  ships  wherein  to  stow  his 
goods,  nor  any  mariner  to  sail  in  them ;  for,  knowing 
what  an  uncomfortable,  fatal,  and  losing  voyage 
they  should  make  of  it,  they  did  all  decline  his  ser¬ 
vice.  In  her  son’s  house  she  hath  her  constant 
haunts  by  day  and  night ;  but  whether  he  did  not,  or 
would  not  own,  if  he  did  see  her,  he  always  professed 
he  never  saw  her.  Sometimes  when  in  bed  with  his 
wife,  she  would  cry  out,  ‘  Husband,  look,  there ’s 
your  mother And  when  he  would  turn  to  the  right 
side,  then  was  she  gone  to  the  left ;  and  when  to  the 
left  side  of  the  bed,  then  was  she  gone  to  the  right : 
only  one  evening  their  only  child,  a  girl  of  about  five 
or  six  years  old,  lying  in  a  truckle-bed  under  them, 
cries  out,  “  0  help  me,  father !  help  me,  mother,  for 
grandmother  will  choke  me !’  and  before  they  could 
get  to  their  child’s  assistance,  she  had  murdered  it ; 
they  finding  the  poor  girl  dead,  her  throat  having 
been  pinched  by  two  fingers,  which  stopped  her 
breath  and  strangled  her.  This  was  the  sorest  of 
all  their  afflictions;  their  estate  is  gone,  and  now 
their  child  is  gone  also ;  you  may  guess  at  their  grief 
and  great  sorrow.  One  morning  after  the  child’s 
funeral,  her  husband  being  abroad,  about  eleven  in 
the  forenoon,  Mrs.  Leckie  the  younger  goes  up  into 
her  chamber  to  dress  her  head,  and,  as  she  was  look¬ 
ing  into  the  glass,  she  spies  her  mother-in-law,  the 
old  beldam,  looking  over  her  shoulder.  This  cast 
her  into  a  great  horror ;  but  recollecting  her  affrighted 
spirits,  and  recovering  the  exercise  of  her  reason,1 
faith,  and  hope,  having  cast  up  a  short  and  silent 
prayer  to  God,  she  turns  about,  and  bespeaks  her : 

In  the  name  of  God,  mother,  why  do  you  trouble 
tne  I’—4  Peace  ’.’  says  the  spectrum ;  ‘  I  will  do  thee 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  333 

no  hurt.’ — ‘What  will  you  have  of  me?’  says  the 
daughter,”  &c.*  Dunton,  the  narrator,  and  probably 
the  contriver  of  the  story,  proceeds  to  inform  us,  at 
length,  of  a  commission  which  the  wife  of  Mr.  Leckie 
receives  from  the  ghost  to  deliver  to  Atherton,  Bishop 
of  Waterford,  a  guilty  and  unfortunate  man,  who 
afterward  died  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner; 
but  that  part  of  the  subject  is  too  disagreeable  and 
tedious  to  enter  upon. 

So  deep  was  the  impression  made  by  the  story  ou 
the  inhabitants  of  Mynehead,  that  it  is  said  the  tra¬ 
dition  of  Mrs.  Leckie  still  remains  in  that  port,  and 
that  mariners  belonging  to  it  often,  amid  tempestuous 
weather,  conceive  they  hear  the  whistle-call  of  the 
implacable  hag  who  was  the  source  of  so  much  mis¬ 
chief  to  her  own  family.  However,  already  too  de¬ 
sultory,  and  too  long,  it  would  become  intolerably 
tedious  were  we  to  insist  farther  on  the  peculiar  sort 
of  genius  by  which  stories  of  this  kind  may  be  im- 
bodied  and  prolonged. 

I  may,  however,  add,  that  the  charm  of  the  tale 
depends  much  upon  the  age  of  the  person  to  whom 
it  is  addressed ;  and  that  the  vivacity  of  fancy  which 
engages  us  in  youth  to  pass  over  much  that  is  absurd, 
in  order  to  enjoy  some  single  trait  of  imagination, 
dies  within  us  when  we  obtain  the  age  of  manhood, 
and  the  sadder  and  graver  regions  which  lie  beyond 
it.  I  am  the  more  conscious  of  this,  because  I  have 
been  myself,  at  two  periods  of  my  life,  distant  from 
each  other,  engaged  in  scenes  favourable  to  that  de¬ 
gree  of  superstitious  awe  which  my  countrymen  ex¬ 
pressively  call  being  eerie. 

On  the  first  of  these  occasions,  I  was  only  nineteen 
or  twenty  years  old,  when  I  happened  to  pass  a  night 
in  the  magnificent  old  baronial  castle  of  Glammis, 
the  hereditary  seat  of  the  Earls  of  Strathmore.  The 
hoary  pile  contains  much  in  its  appearance,  and  in 


•  Apparition  Evidence. 


334 


LETTERS  ON 


the  traditions  connected  with  it,  impressive  to  the 
imagination.  It  was  the  scene  of  the  murder  of  a 
Scottish  king  of  great  antiquity;  not,  indeed,  the 
gracious  Duncan,  with  whom  the  name  naturally 
associates  itself,  but  Malcolm  the  Second.  It 
contains  also  a  curious  monument  of  the  peril  of 
feudal  times,  being  a  secret  chamber,  the  entrance 
of  which,  by  the  law  or  custom  of  the  family,  must 
only  be  known  to  three  persons  at  once,  viz.  the  Earl 
of  Strathmore,  his  heir  apparent,  and  any  third  per¬ 
son  whom  they  may  take  into  their  confidence.  The 
extreme  antiquity  of  the  building  is  vouched  by  the 
immense  thickness  of  the  walls,  and  the  wild  and 
straggling  arrangement  of  the  accommodation  within 
doors.  As  the  late  Earl  of  Strathmore  seldom  re¬ 
sided  in  that  ancient  mansion,  it  was,  when  I  was 
there,  but  half  furnished,  and  that  with  moveables 
of  great  antiquity,  which,  with  the  pieces  of  chivalric 
armour  hanging  upon  the  walls,  greatly  contributed 
to  the  general  effect  of  the  whole.  After  a  very  hos¬ 
pitable  reception  from  the  late  Peter  Proctor,  Esq., 
then  seneschal  of  the  castle,  in  Lord  Strathmore’s 
absence,  I  was  conducted  to  my  apartment  in  a  dis¬ 
tant  corner  of  the  building.  I  must  own,  that  as  I 
heard  door  after  door  shut,  after  my  conductor  had 
retired,  I  began  to  consider  myself  too  far  from  the 
living,  and  somewhat  too  near  the  dead.  We  had 
passed  through  what  is  called  “  the  King’s  room,”  a 
vaulted  apartment,  garnished  with  stags’  antlers,  and 
similar  trophies  of  the  chase,  and  said  by  tradition  to 
be  the  spot  of  Malcolm’s  murder,  and  I  had  an  idea 
of  the  vicinity  of  the  castle  chapel. 

In  spite  of  the  truth  of  history,  the  whole  night 
scene  in  Macbeth’s  castle  rushed  at  once  upon  my 
mind,  and  struck  my  imagination  more  forcibly  than 
even  when  I  have  seen  its  terrors  represented  by  the 
late  John  Kemble  and  his  inimitable  sister.  In  a 
word,  I  experienced  sensations,  which,  though  not 
remarkable  either  for  timidity  or  superstition,  did  not 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  335 

fail  to  effect  me  to  the  point  of  being  disagreeable, 
while  they  were  mingled  at  the  same  time  with  a 
strange  and  indescribable  kind  of  pleasure,  the  re¬ 
collection  of  which  affords  me  gratification  at  this 
moment. 

In  the  year  1814,  accident  placed  me,  then  past  mid¬ 
dle  life,  in  a  situation  somewhat  similar  to  that  which 
I  have  described. 

I  had  been  on  a  pleasure  voyage  with  some  friends 
around  the  north  coast  of  Scotland,  and  in  that  course 
had  arrived  in  the  salt-water  lake  under  the  Castle 
of  Dunvegan,  whose  turrets,  situated  upon  a  frowning 
rock,  rise  immediately  above  the  waves  of  the  loch. 
As  most  of  the  party,  and  I  myself  in  particular, 
chanced  to  be  well  known  to  the  Laird  of  Macleod, 
we  were  welcomed  to  the  castle  with  Highland  hos¬ 
pitality,  and  glad  to  find  ourselves  in  polished  society, 
after  a  cruise  of  some  duration.  The  most  modern 
part  of  the  castle  was  founded  in  the  days  of  James 
VI. ;  the  more  ancient  is  referred  to  a  period  “  whose 
birth  tradition  notes  not.”  Until  the  present  Mac¬ 
leod  connected  by  a  drawbridge  the  site  of  the  castle 
with  the  mainland  of  Skye,  the  access  must  have 
been  extremely  difficult.  Indeed,  so  much  greater 
was  the  regard  paid  to  security  than  to  convenience, 
that  in  former  times  the  only  access  to  the  mansion 
arose  through  a  vaulted  cavern  in  a  rock,  up  which 
a  staircase  ascended  from  the  sea  shore,  like  the 
buildings  we  read  of  in  the  romances  of  Mrs.  Radcliffe. 

Such  a  castle  in  the  extremity  of  the  Highlands 
was  of  course  furnished  with  many  a  tale  of  tradi¬ 
tion,  and  many  a  superstitious  legend  to  fill  occa¬ 
sional  intervals  in  the  music  and  song,  as  proper  to 
the  halls  of  Dunvegan  as  when  Johnson  comme¬ 
morated  them.  We  reviewed  the  arms  and  ancient 
valuables  of  this  distinguished  family — saw  the  dirk 
and  broadsword  of  Rorie  Mhor,  and  his  horn,  which 
would  drench  three  chiefs  of  these  degenerate  days. 
The  solemn  drinking  cup  of  the  Kings  of  Man  must 


336 


LETTERS  ON 


not  be  forgotten,  nor  the  fairy  banner  given  to 
Macleod  by  the  Queen  of  Fairies ;  that  magic  flag, 
which  has  been  victorious  in  two  pitched  fields,  and 
will  still  float  in  a  third,  the  bloodiest  and  the  last, 
when  the  Elfin  Sovereign  shall,  after  the  fight  is 
ended,  recall  her  bannei,  and  carry  off  the  standard- 
bearer. 

Amid  such  tales  of  ancient  tradition,  I  had  from 
Macleod  and  his  lady  the  courteous  offer  of  the 
haunted  apartment  of  the  castle,  about  which,  as  a 
stranger,  I  might  be  supposed  interested.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  I  took  possession  of  it  about  the  witching 
hour.  Except,  perhaps,  some  tapestry  hangings,  and 
the  extreme  thickness  of  the  walls,  which  argued 
great  antiquity,  nothing  could  have  been  more  com¬ 
fortable  than  the  interior  of  the  apartment ;  but  if 
you  looked  from  the  windows,  the  view  was  such  as 
to  correspond  with  the  highest  tone  of  superstition. 
An  autumnal  blast,  sometimes  clear,  sometimes 
driving  mist  before  it,  swept  along  the  troubled  bil¬ 
lows  of  the  lake,  which  it  occasionally  concealed, 
and  by  fits  disclosed.  The  waves  rushed  in  wild 
disorder  on  the  shore,  and  covered  with  foam  the 
steep  piles  of  rock,  which  rising  from  the  sea  in 
forms  something  resembling  the  human  figure,  have 
obtained  the  name  of  Macleod’s  Maidens,  and  in 
such  a  night,  seemed  no  bad  representatives  of  the 
Norwegian  goddesses,  called  Choosers  of  the  Slain, 
or  Riders  of  the  Storm.  There  was  something  of 
the  dignity  of  danger  in  the  scene ;  for  on  a  platform 
beneath  the  windows  lay  an  ancient  battery  of 
cannon,  which  had  sometimes  been  used  against 
privateers  even  of  late  years.  The  distant  scene 
was  a  view  of  that  part  of  the  Quillan  mountains 
which  are  called,  from  their  form,  Macleod’s  Dining- 
Tables.  The  voice  of  an  angry  cascade,  termed  the 
Nurse  of  Rorie  Mhor,  because  that  chief  slept  best  in 
its  vicinity,  was  heard  from  time  to  time  mingling  its 
notes  with  those  of  wind  and  wave.  Such  was  the 


DEMONOLOGY  AND  WITCHCRAFT.  337 

haunted  room  at  Dunvegan,  and  as  such,  it  well  de¬ 
served  a  less  sleepy  inhabitant.  In  the  language  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  who  has  stamped  his  memory  on  this 
remote  place,  “  I  looked  around  me,  and  wondered 
that  I  was  not  more  affected ;  but  the  mind  is  not  at 
all  times  equally  ready  to  be  moved.”  In  a  word,  it 
is  necessary  to  confess,  that,  of  all  I  heard  or  saw, 
the  most  engaging  spectacle  was  the  comfortable 
bed,  in  which  I  hoped  to  make  amends  for  some 
rough  nights  on  ship-board,  and  where  I  slept  ac¬ 
cordingly,  without  thinking  of  ghost  or  goblin,  till  I 
was  called  by  my  servant  in  the  morning. 

From  this  I  am  taught  to  infer,  that  tales  of  ghosts 
and  demonology  are  out  of  date  at  forty  years  and 
upwards  ;  that  it  is  only  in  the  morning  of  life  that 
this  feeling  of  superstition  “comes  o’er  us  like  a 
summer  cloud,”  affecting  us  with  fear,  which  is 
solemn  and  awful  rather  than  painful;  and  I  am 
tempted  to  think,  that  if  I  were  to  write  on  the  sub¬ 
ject  at  all,  it  should  have  been  during  a  period  of  life 
when  I  could  have  treated  it  with  more  interesting 
vivacity,  and  might  have  been  at  least  amusing,  if  I 
could  not  be  instructive.  Even  the  present  fashion 
of  the  world  seems  to  be  ill  suited  for  studies  of  this 
fantastic  nature  ;  and  the  most  ordinary  mechanic  has 
learning  sufficient  to  laugh  at  the  figments  which  in 
former  times  were  believed  by  persons  far  advanced 
in  the  deepest  knowledge  of  the  age. 

I  cannot,  however,  in  conscience,  carry  my  opinion 
of  my  countrymen’s  good  sense  so  far  as  to  excul¬ 
pate  them  entirely  from  the  charge  of  credulity. 
Those  who  are  disposed  to  look  for  them  may,  with¬ 
out  much  trouble,  see  such  manifest  signs,  both  of 
superstition  and  the  disposition  to  believe  in  its  doc¬ 
trines,  as  may  render  it  no  useless  occupation  to 
compare  the  follies  of  our  fathers  with  our  own. 
The  sailors  have  a  proverb  that  every  man  in  his 
lifetime  must  eat  a  peck  of  impurity ;  and  it  seems 
yet  more  clear  tin  t  o/ety  generation  of  the  human 


338 


LETTERS  &C. 


race  must  swallow  a  certain  measure  of  nonsense. 
There  remains  hope,  however,  that  the  grosser  faults 
of  our  ancestors  are  now  out  of  date ;  and  that  what¬ 
ever  follies  the  present  race  may  be  guilty  of,  the 
sense  of  humanity  is  too  universally  spread  to  per¬ 
mit  them  to  think  of  tormenting  wretches  till  they 
confess  what  is  impossible,  and  then  burning  them 
for  their  pains. 


THE  EN1> 


CATALOGUE  OF  BOOKS. 


Harper  &  Brothers,  82  Cliff-street,  New-York, 
have  just  issued  a  new  and  complete  catalogue  of 
their  publications,  which  will  be  forwarded,  without 
charge,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  upon  appli¬ 
cation  to  them  personally  or  by  mail  post  paid.  In 
this  catalogue  may  be  found  over  one  thousand  vol¬ 
umes,  embracing  every  branch  of  literature,  standard 
and  imaginative.  The  attention  of  persons  forming 
libraries,  either  private  or  public,  is  particularly  di¬ 
rected  to  the  great  number  of  valuable  standard  his¬ 
torical  and  miscellaneous  works  comprised  in  the 
list,  among  which  are  the  following  : 

The  Family  Library  (each  work  is  sold 


separately)  contains . 153  vols. 

The  Classical  Library  .  . 36  vols. 

The  School  District  Library .  200  vols. 

Boys’  and  Girls’  Library . 32  vols. 

Mrs.  Sherwood’s  Works . 15  vols. 

Miss  Edgeworth’s  Works . 15  vols. 

Sparks’s  American  Biography  ....  10  vols. 

Hannah  More’s  Works . 6  vols. 

Shakspeare’s  Works . 6  vols. 


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